


Moonlight

by Gigi_Bell



Series: ABO/Wolf [13]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Baekhyun is so cute, Bittersweet, Chanyeol is also so cute, Feral Behavior, M/M, Multi, Pack Dynamics, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Scents & Smells, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:14:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28058226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gigi_Bell/pseuds/Gigi_Bell
Summary: Baekhyun wheezed as he tried to take a breath, hands shaking at his side either from blood loss or cold. He blinked and all he saw were Chanyeol’s red, worried eyes.Of course Chanyeol was worried, he had just found his mate dying in the forest.“I have you, moonlight. Don’t be scared.”
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Series: ABO/Wolf [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055228
Comments: 30
Kudos: 217





	1. Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> This work is solely mine, I do not allow stories to be posted on any other site, and any translations that are done will be posted here on my own page, I don’t allow my works to be posted under any other accounts.

Trotting along the edge of the forest like this was the only time Baekhyun ever felt at ease.

Except right now he _wasn’t_ at ease.

He was afraid. Beaten, bloody, and scared he was being followed.

He was nude and walking along the edge of the forest like a complete idiot and knew it, yet if he was going to die like this he much preferred it to be all alone than subjected to more torture in his last moments.

One may think in a place where omegas were very rare that he’d be treated kinder, perhaps like royalty even, but that _wasn’t_ how things were.

In fact, quite the opposite was true when Baekhyun wheezed as he tried to take a breath, hands shaking at his side either from blood loss or cold.

Surprisingly, the reason for the attack today was _not_ for sexual means, but for him trying to steal food.

Baekhyun mused he’d gotten lucky even as his vision came in and out and he could barely feel the blood clotting over his eye.

The omega was whining too, whimpering with his entire chest and unable to stop, he was just _tired_ of walking and _tired_ of the abuse.

Baekhyun was just so _tired._

He coughed once because his throat was itching, but it turned out to be much more because only seconds later he was hacking and his stomach was churning, equilibrium off balanced as he collapsed to his knees.

All the noises he made came out spluttered and wheezed, his spine pressing against his back from malnourishment.

The omega dropped to his elbows with a whine at the red, stickiness on the grass in front of him, he fell right into the bloody mixture but couldn’t be bothered to even think about moving from it.

A screeching noise left his throat when his arm gave out, landing on his shoulder with a whine and joints cracking as he tried to get up.

It didn’t seem he would be, so instead he rolled onto his side to curl in a ball, taking a while to reopen his eyes every time they closed.

“- what is that noise?”

“Smells weird -“

“Do you guys smell that?”

Baekhyun released a scratchy, fearful noise, wishing he could move and try to hide, that was _not_ going to happen anytime soon as his limbs didn’t want to move a bit.

He shut his eyes tightly as the group approached, well, as tight as he could given having no strength or energy.

He must have been a sight, black and blue all over, nude and covered in his own bloody vomit, because the group didn’t say anything for a while even though Baekhyun could feel eyes on him and hear footsteps around.

There was a twig crackling right beside his head and his eyes burst open, knees attempting to be pulled into his chest but Baekhyun cried out at his body being in so much pain to begin with.

He sniffed his nose to try and scent them, but tasted blood in his throat instead, heart beating frantically and only causing his open wounds to bleed more.

“Oh… my _fuck.”_

Baekhyun squealed a panicked and pained noise when the person beside his head was abruptly kneeling before him.

Large, almond shaped eyes stared at him.

They flashed red and Baekhyun felt his own shift colors too as he released an unintentional begging noise, flinching back from the stare.

He was too tired to recognize what it meant.

“No way - holy shit, no way!” Someone yelled making him whine harder, bringing an arm up to cover his head.

Of course a group of alphas and betas would be excited to find a beaten omega out here, Baekhyun could just hope they would make it quick.

“Fuck- give me a shirt or something-“ The alpha ordered beside him, obviously not taking the fear in his eyes into account, but something about his tone was frantic and scared as he laid a hand on Baekhyun’s temple.

Baekhyun would flinch again if he could, but he just whimpered with his lips parted to breathe through his mouth, left eye partially closed with blood pooling over his lashes from his head.

The noise made the alpha in front of him snap back to look at him with a devastated expression, “Sh, I know, I know, moonlight, just a moment.” He cooed, a large thumb coming to smear the blood out of his vision.

That only made Baekhyun squeal harder, unsure what the alpha meant, vision blackening at the sheer force of his crying and due to his injuries.

_“Chanyeol, you need to calm him down, he’s losing so much blood.”_

“No, no.” The alpha crooned under his breath, almost like he’d never heard the others comment with how fast he was petting Baekhyun’s wounded face, brushing palms through his matted hair and careful of how much pressure he put against the others bruises and swelling. “No, no, little one, sh. I know, you must be so scared right now.”

 _More_ than scared the omega would easily argue if he could _ever_ work up such a nerve.

Chanyeol frowned and twisted to grab a blanket from Sehun’s hands as soon as he heard the other running back towards them, hands becoming stiff with drying blood on them as he unrolled it, “Look, I’m just covering you up, okay? Is that okay, honeybee?”

The omega didn’t even blink, eyes half lidded as he tried to keep them open, fingers resting under his bottom lip and unmoving even as he whimpered out another fearful noise when hands tucked the blanket over his torso.

_“He’s going to bleed out, we need to get him back.”_

The alpha was partially distracted by looking at the odd pattern of bruising around Baekhyun’s ankle, a very clear indication of chains as there were indented scars to account for the mistreatment.

But, at his pack's words Chanyeol growled under his breath, taking a second to pet the omegas hair out of his face even though he was positive the omega was out now, wheezing on every intake of air with shut eyes.

“I have you, moonlight. Don’t be scared.”

Now that was too much to ask.

***

Baekhyun didn’t just wake up, no, the omega _panic woke up._

He had no idea what was going on when he’d woken up in a bed. Not just a pile of blankets but an actual _bed._

He was shaken, even more so at the baggy clothing he was abruptly wearing and the bandages all over his body.

The omega was in _pain._ That was more than obvious as he had to stifle his cries with a palm over his mouth when he climbed off the bed.

His body felt terrible, no area wasn’t sore or in stinging pain, but Baekhyun would rather risk it than fall victim to anything and was hiding in a wardrobe immediately.

He’d tried under the bed at first, but his ribs jostled and he’d quickly been sent into tears at the movement.

The omega had been sitting in the wardrobe for a long while before there was anything he heard, and it turned out to be the doorknob shaking that had his attention instantly, waking him from his place huddled in clothing that had fallen off hangers when he climbed in.

He’d practically given himself away though, because he made a panicked noise when the door began to open, grabbing the doors and pulling them shut, a crack in between so he could see out and hold them closed.

Baekhyun knew the alpha had to have heard him, but the tall brunette just walked in and didn’t look around for a moment, placing a tray on the end of the bed before Baekhyun saw the moment he seemed to realize the omega wasn’t _in_ bed.

The alpha sighed rather deeply and shook his head as he looked around, eyes catching on the sliver of fingers poking out of the wardrobe. “Oh, _honeybee.”_

Baekhyun tried to sniff at the clothing where he’d climbed inside, anything to give him a sort of indication what kind of alpha he was dealing with, but his nose was too swollen.

It could be broken again for all he knew.

“I need to get some clothes from there, sweet thing.” Chanyeol said gently, taking a seat on the end of the bed facing the wardrobe, holding his chin up with his palm as he focused on it. “And you have broken ribs, precious. Please stay resting in bed. I’m sure you’re very scrunched up in there.”

Well, he wasn’t entirely sure about that given how small and thin the omega was. Perhaps he fit fine.

Baekhyun released a soft, disagreeing noise, pressing his nose to the back of the wood and staring out of it.

Chanyeol could see the blue shimmer in the omegas eyes when they looked at each other and it made him smile despite knowing the circumstance was inappropriate. “It’s comfortable then?” He asked, laughing softly, “Is it comfortable for you, little one? You can stay in there if that’s what you want.”

He sounded teasing and playful and Baekhyun had never heard a tone like that before, his body instantly reacted to the deep voice with a pleased noise he hadn’t known how to make voluntarily.

“Silly, you must be such a silly little thing,” Chanyeol laughed, shaking his head to himself, “But I am only teasing you, I _do_ need you to rest - doctors orders, pumpkin.”

Baekhyun didn’t like that, yelping and pulling the doors shut all the way, no longer seeing anything but darkness from inside the wardrobe and whimpering.

There was a noise like a sigh, but it wasn’t aggressive or anything of the sort. Instead, it just sounded concerned.

“I’m going to open it, please don’t freak out.”

Baekhyun didn’t necessarily _freak out_ per say, but he did screech and shove himself into the corner of the wardrobe, more clothes falling over him but he didn’t remove them at all, eyes huge as he looked at the alpha.

His face was still beaten and battered, but rest had done the omega some good and the main injury on his small face was his swollen nose and the bandage around his head, it made Chanyeol’s heart clench painfully.

It was also just adorable how there was a sleeve of one of his sweaters just lying over the omegas head, the fabric just sitting there and Baekhyun made no move to push it off.

“Aren’t you such a cute little thing?” He sighed fondly, kneeling down a little to get smaller as he held the wood wide open.

Baekhyun’s foot was sticking out from the clothing, his body bruised all the way down to his toes.

Chanyeol clenched his jaw and licked his lips, “There’s no need to be scared.”

The omega obviously was distrusting about such a comment, yanking his foot closer to him and hiding his face in his knees as far as he could get.

He was likely the only omega for miles assuming he’d even made it miles from his old pack, so Baekhyun was instantly assuming the reason he was here was horrible.

“B-Big-g.”

Chanyeol perked up at the soft, scratchy voice, smiling for a second before clearing it when he registered what Baekhyun said, “Oh- oh, big what? What was that, sweetness?”

Baekhyun sucked in his chapped and scabbed bottom lip, fiddling with his sleeve, “A-Alpha.”

“Oh- me? I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol hurried to move out of the way of blocking the wardrobe, moving to a dresser beside it instead and pressing his spine into it to give the omega more space, “I just thought you’d be more comfortable with me, I’m sorry, baby.”

The omega didn’t reply, but mostly because he was shaking and being shoved into a ball exacerbated his injuries causing him to whine as he crawled out of the cabinet.

Chanyeol's hand twitched out towards him at the noise, but as fast as lightning Baekhyun had eyes on him like a hawk, taking a seat on the bed but his eyes shone with tears.

Chanyeol didn’t try to get any closer even if he wanted to, he just frowned deeply and took a seat on a chair beside the door, leaning into his palm.

Baekhyun whimpered and winced again as he shuffled into the bed.

“You should lay back, moonlight,” Chanyeol worried softly, “Lay down just how you were before, angel face. It will help you not hurt too much, promise.”

Baekhyun tilted his head at him, tongue pressing over the corner of his mouth and picking at a scab before he pointed a thin, shaking finger at the bottom of the bed.

It made the alpha laugh because he was just so _cute._

If only he wasn’t so scared.

“You can have that, it’s for you,” He approved easily, “You can have all of that and more. But I really think you should lay back… is… can I help you? Swear on everything that I’m not going to touch you, precious. Do you think I will? If I was, I could have done so while you slept, pumpkin. And I _didn’t._ Won't ever touch you.”

Baekhyun didn’t want _anyone_ close to him, much less an alpha so huge, one that could easily overpower him.

_Not like it would be hard at all._

But he was starving and he was in pain, unsure of how to lay so he could eat and rest.

Very, very slowly, he nodded, eyes looking watery and like he was ready to jump from the bed any second.

Chanyeol noticed and tried to keep his actions very slow and gentle, taking very long to get from one side of the room to the bed.

Baekhyun flinched so hard he whimpered in pain when the alpha leaned over to fix the pillows beside him, smelling the mix of iron and vanilla coming from the omega.

“Just setting you up,” He soothed, tilting some pillowed up, “Okay, lay down right here,” Chanyeol requested quietly, a hand resting beside the pillow that he’d sat up and making sure his knees didn’t brush the omegas when Baekhyun shuffled legs into the bed. “That’s good. Good boy, look at you, so sweet.”

Despite the omega still looking scared, he seemed to perk up a little at the praise.

Chanyeol grinned, fingertips skimming soft black hair as he removed his hand and reached for the blanket to pull over his lap, “Now, let’s get some food in that belly, what do you say, precious?”

_“Thank you, alpha.”_

That _wasn’t_ what he’d been looking for at all, he’d been only teasing the omega a bit, but when he looked found the other wide eyed and staring at the tray he was grabbing with his mouth parted, hands clenching together over the blankets.

Poor thing.

“What’s your name?” Chanyeol asked, sitting on the side table and grabbing a roll to tear a piece for the omega.

He was right to go slowly seeing as the omega snatched it and shoved it into his cheek more like a chipmunk rather than eating it.

Chanyeol didn't see him even begin to chew until he had a second piece in his palm, like he wasn’t going to risk eating without knowing he had more.

“Hm? You’re not going to tell your mate your name? Know you can see my eyes flashing, I can definitely see the pretty blue of yours, moonlight.”

Baekhyun swallowed down half of the roll before he even considered replying, holding a piece to his lips and giving a small grunt for more, palm resting on the side of the bed limply with it opened for more.

Chanyeol thought it was very cute even if it was simply because the omega was scared, placing a chunk of fruit in his palm.

The omega shoved it to his mouth much like a child would, palm flat to his lips and making a mess of his chin.

Chanyeol wanted to comb his hair and tell him how cute he was, but knew it wasn’t right to do so and also he didn’t know if such actions were purposefully done or because the omega was frantic for food.

_“B-Baekhyun.”_

“Well _hello,_ Baekhyun.” He smiled down at the tray in his lap as he cut up some of the chicken for his mate, “My name is Chanyeol and I’m going to take such good care of you.”

Baekhyun didn’t reply, but he did make that same impatient yet restrained noise, opening his mouth for more food with both hands still holding chunks of bread.

Chanyeol just smiled as gently as he could and scooped some chicken into his mouth.

***

“Arms up, baby pup.”

Baekhyun whimpered, chin wobbling as he raised his arms up, trying to keep still as Yixing began to wrap his ribs up again.

When he’d first seen the beta, Yixing had just about given him a heart attack, leaning over him with a stethoscope and checking his heartbeat.

But, he’d quickly found out the beta wasn’t one to concern himself over, even if his heart had been going so fast he nearly puked.

Chanyeol was always there though, and he helped a lot even if he only made soft noises to calm him down, making the omegas shoulders loosen and relax.

Baekhyun found the alpha strange, just sitting in the chair across the room for the past week, asking if he was hungry or needed to use the restroom when he noticed the omega awake.

As his nose cleared up, he realized the alpha likely was in here so much because it was _his_ room. Everything smelled like him and Chanyeol only got close to either get clothing from the dresser or to feed him.

There was something that was reassuring about the alphas eyes on him, but at the same time Baekhyun was weary of him given he _was_ still an alpha.

It didn’t matter if they were mates, he couldn’t just trust randomly.

“Okay, what a good boy.”

“I’ll take care of the rest,” Chanyeol commented, fingers holding the damp towel the omega had just used after his bath, placing it in his laundry basket, “Thank you, Xing.”

“You sure you don’t want to come meet the others?” The beta asked, soft eyes looking at Baekhyun as he clamped the clip to hold the others bandage.

Baekhyun shuffled, crossing his arms over his naked chest and ducking his head.

“He’s not ready,” The alpha murmured across the room, instantly getting the attention from his mate, “Please let me get him dressed now.”

Baekhyun felt a little bad because Yixing had been so nice to him this far, helping him out of the tub and wrapping him up all the time. He was really kind.

But he didn’t like too many people, let alone alphas and he _knew_ there were many more downstairs because he could also hear them wandering outside in the hallways.

“Okay, honeybee.”

He lifted his head up with a slight shiver when the lamp in front of him was blocked by the alpha grabbing the shirt and shorts off the dresser.

He’d only been able to get underwear on lately because bending hurt his ribs and other injuries, it was extremely embarrassing and in any other circumstances he’d _never_ be this bare in front of anyone.

But Chanyeol kept good on promises thus far.

“You want some more bruise cream on?” Chanyeol asked softly, rolling a sweatshirt over Baekhyun’s head, gently pulling it over thin shoulders. “Hm? Look at these pretty little eyes, healing so nicely.” He cooed, keeping eye contact as he gently guided Baekhyun’s arms through the holes.

Baekhyun smiled a tiny bit, unable to hold it back as there was a tiny touch to below his eye.

It was soft and gentle and he’d _never_ had an alpha touch him like that before.

“Sit down my little bumble bee,” The alpha laughed at his cute expression, waiting for Baekhyun to take a seat before rolling the shorts up to make it easier to dress him.

Not that Chanyeol minded, really, not at all, but it was hard to pull bottoms up thin legs without touching Baekhyun too much and even harder trying to convince himself _not_ to press a kiss to the still black bruise on Baekhyun’s right knee.

He knew all these injuries had to hurt, but other than whines and soft noises, Baekhyun didn’t verbally complain.

He sat up to tie the drawstring, watching the way Baekhyun focused on his actions with a small quirk in his brow and confusion in his eyes.

“Do you know how to tie?”

Baekhyun looked up at him nervously, shaking his head.

Chanyeol wanted to coo at him, but instead just smiled, “I’ll teach you soon, pumpkin, lay back a bit so I can put cream on your bruises.”

At this point he should just lather the omega in it, because Baekhyun was just colored with bruises.

“Ow.”

“Ow?” Chanyeol pulled his hands away from Baekhyun’s ankle where he'd been mindlessly rubbing cream on, moving them to the omegas foot and looking up at him.

Baekhyun sat tucked against the headboard now, chin to his chest and fingers playing with the string of his sweatshirt, _“Ow.”_ He mumbled, pointing very slowly at his ankle.

Chanyeol frowned, still massaging over the omegas bruised foot as he took notice to Baekhyun’s ankle, the same one indented and perhaps the most bruised area _on_ the omega.

He swallowed thickly, gently turning his foot to look around the chain marks.

It made him sick to his stomach, but he should have expected something like this.

The truth was though, he'd _never_ seen an omega in his entire life, they were too rare and few and far in between. The perk was that Yixing - who used to venture to different packs for his medical knowledge - _had_ seen an omega in the past, one he couldn’t save.

But in those final days the medic spent so much time with her and learned so much that it seemed it would come in handy when helping Baekhyun.

_Be gentle, all of you be gentle with him - that means no roughhousing, Sehun! You’ll scare him._

_Don't make eye contact with him too long, he’ll think you want him to submit, and we don’t want that._

_Don’t refer to him as an omega, I’m sure he’s well aware._

Chanyeol didn’t exactly stick to all of those, but Baekhyun hadn’t yet seemed more out off when he stared too long or teased him too much, he hoped it was because the omega was well aware that he wouldn’t hurt him.

“Do.. you want to tell me about it?”

Baekhyun released a quiet whimper, grabbing a pillow off his bed to bury under his chin and squeeze tightly, eyes peeking out.

Chanyeol saw that his shoulders lifted everytime he breathed in and hoped he was doing so a lot because he liked his scent.

“That’s okay, pumpkin. You don’t have to say anything at all,” Chanyeol cooed, running his thumb over a scar that ran from the top of the omegas foot all the way to above his ankle. “We aren’t going to treat you-“

_“Chain is for bad times.”_

The alpha withheld a growl, hand curling around Baekhyun’s ankle not roughly, but protectively, “What bad times, angel face?”

Baekhyun’s voice was always quiet, as if he was scared to talk too loud - or maybe at all - but Chanyeol had to lean closer to hear it muffled through the pillow. “Bad time… alphas me chain up and… yell.”

“Yell about what, Baekhyun?”

“Because I say no mating.”

Chanyeol already expected as much, but had to turn his head away to cover his mouth in fear a growl would slip out. But even so _pissed._ Even so livid and aggressive he knew to take into account what was best for his mate.

And being aggressive was _not_ the best.

He just swallowed a few times before turning back to look at the pair of puppy eyes watching him, leaning over to grab the pair of socks rolled up on the nightstand. “Let’s get these toes warm and watch a movie, moonlight.”

***

Baekhyun was giggling, and it was by _far_ Chanyeol’s favorite sound _ever_ even if the omega was laughing at him.

Look, it wasn’t really his fault he was this tall and clumsy as hell.

Well, that was stretching the truth because honestly he'd not been paying attention and hit his shoulder on the bathroom door because he’d been paying attention to Baekhyun.

His mate just called for a lot of attention - even _if_ he had only been watching something with a phone up to his face.

It was obvious Baekhyun had been raised in a more traditional pack, so Chanyeol just found his obsession with electronics cute.

So _cute,_ almost as cute as Baekhyun’s face when he gave him little gifts throughout the days.

Sometimes it was new clothes - his own clothes - or the hairbrush the omega was oddly excited to use ever since his forehead could be unwrapped.

“Got you something else today, baby.”

Chanyeol chuckled when he heard a soft _oo_ and turned to watch Baekhyun cutely pressing his hands together under his chin, tablet lying on his knees.

“So excited, hm?” He teased, taking a seat beside the omegas hips, not touching Baekhyun’s skin as he pulled his sweatpants over his ankles where they’d been pulled up.

Baekhyun liked to _move,_ he liked to wiggle and stretch and squirm even just while watching videos he'd wiggled so much his blanket was barely on the bed anymore.

“Mhm.”

Chanyeol smiled and shook his head fondly at the soft hum, watching the omega smile with excited hands under his chin. “Okay, pumpkin.” He dug in his pocket for a second before taking out a small blue velvet box, debating on how to go about it before setting it in Baekhyun’s lap. “My mom made this when I was born to give to my mate.”

The omega huffed a confused noise, reaching over to pet the velvet before making a happier sounding noise, _“soft!”_

The alpha instantly laughed, wanting to kiss his face and praise him, but grabbed it again, “It’s not the box, but what’s inside of it, moonlight. My sweet boy.”

Baekhyun giggled and pressed fingers to his lips, watching the alphas' hands carefully as Chanyeol opened the box for him.

Chanyeol plucked the thin banded, silver beaded bracelet from the box, it was shimmering and perfectly new looking from the alpha cleaning it the night prior.

After giving Baekhyun basic, little things, he felt it was time they had some more to give. It’d been almost two weeks, and he'd had the least amount of physical contact with his mate - just when he helped slide bruised limbs into clothing or applied bruise cream to his legs.

He never strayed up high even if Baekhyun needed it beneath his tops and arms too, because the omega still flinched when he touched his legs too quickly anyway, making scared noises until Chanyeol could soothe him.

It was hard when they were instinctively made to want to use touch as a mechanism to comfort each other.

“For you, my little one, do you like it?”

Baekhyun stared at it for a good while, a small parted lip expression. He looked at it from all angles, dangling it by his nose and bringing it close to his face as if he couldn't see it, holding it in a palm and bringing it away. He squeaked little noises before smiling toothily in a way that made Chanyeol want to purr contently. “Like.”

“I’m glad you _like,_ Baekhyunnie. So glad, my pretty, pretty boy. Only pretty things for you, pumpkin.”

The omega threw a hand over his mouth with a giggle, but Chanyeol was surprised at the thin hand coming towards him to place the bracelet on his thigh, “You.”

“You want me to put it on you?” Chanyeol grinned ear to ear, licking his lips as he grabbed the bracelet and gently grasped the hand Baekhyun held to his face to cover his blush.

It was so entirely rare to touch that Chanyeol saw Baekhyun stiffen up, but he didn’t whimper nor squirm, he simply watched closely.

But there was still a look in his eye that Chanyeol _never_ wanted to see, even less when it was aimed at him.

“Hey, do you see me? I’m not hurting you, pumpkin.” Chanyeol cooed softly, releasing the bracelet to slide down Baekhyun’s arm from his wrist, but moving his grip to grab his hand in both of the alphas, running fingers over the knobs of his knuckles. “Am I?”

“No..”

“And that’s _right._ Never going to hurt you,” He promised, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the back of Baekhyun’s hand.

The omega seemed _very_ interested in that, eyes going wide and looking so confused yet interested.

Chanyeol chuckled because Baekhyun was just so adorable.

“Where… _mom?”_ The omega mumbled, eyes shooting to the bracelet and back at Chanyeol when the alpha shuffled a little, hair falling over his face all the way down and past his button nose.

The alpha hummed softly, showing Baekhyun in very slow movements his hand as he brought it closer to the omegas face.

Baekhyun nearly went cross eyed with confusion trying to follow what he was doing before Chanyeol combed his hair back from his face. “People pass away, she was old and passed a few years ago, that’s okay, she’s with my dad now.”

Baekhyun surprisingly didn’t pull back _or_ screech as Chanyeol started petting his hair, instead the omega leaned into it and the alpha was surprised at the move, grinning and petting more down his cheek as he seemed to like it.

“You’re such a sweet boy, Baekhyun. Look at you, you just want some love, I’m going to be gentle with you, honeybee. So gentle.”

The omega smiled so hard his eyes scrunched up, turning his head to press his face into Chanyeol’s large palm.

Chanyeol laughed and used his thumb to pet softly over the swelling still grotesque looking around the bridge of Baekhyun’s nose, feeling the deep and huffy breathing into his palm. “Do I smell good? Can you tell I’m not lying, baby. I’m not.”

Baekhyun never really spoke a lot, and when he did he seemed to flip flop things back and forth, likely because he had to accommodate the constantly worried thoughts he had.

“Pass away… means bye?”

“Sure. It means bye, precious.”

The omega huffed into his hand before sitting back, letting the alpha have his hand back although Chanyeol really didn’t want it back if it meant Baekhyun let him touch him. “If I stayed… then _bye.”_

Chanyeol gulped and didn't want to think about it, but that _was_ the truth. Even Yixing said as much when they’d carried him to their house.

Baekhyun had been limp, he'd been almost grey colored from loss of blood, he'd been naked and not one part of him hadn’t been beaten up.

He didn’t _know_ completely what Baekhyun had gone through, but it was obvious that the beatings he had been subjected to resulted in all the things they saw.

 _Including_ his injuries, his fear, his lack of socialization. Baekhyun hardly even liked to _speak,_ opting to make noises more often than not - ones that lasted for long periods of time and the omega could go _on_ with them and sometimes even looked frustrated when asked a question he couldn't just make noise to answer.

Baekhyun spoke fine, it was soft and gentle and _scared,_ but he had a vocabulary so that wasn’t the issue, it was just the pure idea of him having been cut off from communicating this long that he thought whining and chirping were _answers_ when they weren’t at all.

Chanyeol just let him, because he needed to go slow with him - they needed to treat him better before Baekhyun could change habits, and right now understanding Baekhyun was the least they could do to make it easier on the omega.

“I know,” Chanyeol mumbled, sighing as he pushed his own hair off his forehead, “And that’s why you’re such a smart and _good_ angel, huh? You found us and that’s so smart of you, precious.”

Baekhyun did a tiny little squealing noise complete with his hand clenching and a small shake.

As much as Chanyeol liked Baekhyun’s voice, even non verbal habits were just as sweet.

Even more so when the omega turned to his opposite side of the bed to grab a familiar, baby blue hairbrush and pressed it into the back of Chanyeol's hand, raising his own hands to comb through his hair as an example all with a beaming grin.

“You want me to brush your hair?” Chanyeol laughed fondly.

Baekhyun squeaked and nodded fast, closing his eyes.

Even if it was going to be hard Chanyeol was _completely_ okay with how it was going thus far, being able to even sit beside him this close and touch his soft hair was more than what he’d expected.

So when he started brushing around Baekhyun’s ears and the omega still had closed eyes and didn’t make any moves to flinch or yelp at the touching, Chanyeol knew Baekhyun was trying really hard _too._

***

“Pumpkin, pumpkin! Pumpkin!”

Chanyeol wasn’t even _in_ the room yet and could hear the omega already bouncing off the walls for him, likely smelling him through the door since his mate's little nose had cleared up fully.

It made him snort and push the door open, watching as Baekhyun squeaked and kicked his feet against the bed.

Doing a ridiculously adorable dance with his hairbrush clutched in both hands and eyes puffy with sleep.

“Hi, beautiful.”

 _“Pumpkin,”_ Baekhyun pouted his lips out with twinkling eyes, hopping onto his knees and looking from Chanyeol to the food he had. “Yummy?”

Chanyeol _hated_ that Yixing told Baekhyun, “Food you like a lot you should say _yummy_ that way we can get you more!” Because it was too much on his weak (for Baekhyun) heart.

“Ah, you’re pumpkin today. Okay, hi, pumpkin. And yes, I brought you something yummy.”

“Thank you!”

Chanyeol snickered as Baekhyun flopped back into his pillows, all his energy going into unwrapping his muffin the second the alpha placed it on his chest, chirping little purrs the entire time.

Food rivaled the trust he'd only just begun giving to Chanyeol, but the alpha wasn't _that_ jealous.

Not when he could do a little more than before, like grabbing the abandoned hairbrush, “Can you sit up, baby? Don’t want you to choke and _I_ need to do something about this nest on your head, what did you do, huh? Rolling around all night?”

With cheeks puffed out on his mouthful, Baekhyun rumbled something impossible to make out as he scooted up, muffin pressing to his chin and making a chocolate chip stain on the skin.

They could deal with that later, right now Chanyeol was just happy to take a seat slightly behind and beside him - never fully out of Baekhyun’s view because that was not okay with the omega at all.

“Aish, what’d you do? You made your hair all knotted, silly.” He chided playfully, unraveling a knot in Baekhyun’s hair with his fingers and with a playful poke to the omegas ear.

“Braid, Chanyeol.”

This was no _braid_ but he knew Baekhyun likely was learning his best from all the videos he'd watched, and that was more than enough for his mate to deserve praise.

“So pretty, but let’s get you some proper small hair ties for that. No more knotting your hair up, pumpkin, or it’s going to hurt when you brush it.”

Baekhyun just hummed against his muffin and that seemed like all the answer Chanyeol would be getting so he just laughed and began to brush out the omegas soft hair.

It felt like a child’s hair, soft and new, he didn’t know if it was an omega thing or if it was a Baekhyun thing, but he was biased and claimed many things were Baekhyun’s even if he _knew_ all omegas were supposedly beautiful and they were fragile.

 _Just Baekhyun,_ because he deserved to not be grouped together as _all omegas._

“You want it up?”

“Today alpha choose.”

Chanyeol grinned, staring at Baekhyun’s profile for too long - he knew it had been because the omega side eyed him - before using his hands to gently scoop his hair up.

“I just like to see your face all the time, let’s put it up so I can see how pretty you are.”

Baekhyun could _really_ use a haircut, but he’d never suggest it, not if this was how his mate preferred to be - hiding under his locks.

_“Chanyeol?”_

He hummed, using his teeth to pull a hair tie off the end of the hairbrush and creating a small bun at the crown of Baekhyun’s head.

“We… really mates?”

Chanyeol frowned because he was positive Baekhyun _had_ to know that by now, there was no way he couldn't.

He hurried to tie up his hair in order to look at him, “Of course, I would flash my eyes to show you, but I don’t want to scare you, moonlight.” He replied, wiping his sleeve on chocolate on Baekhyun’s chin.

Baekhyun nodded in agreement to that quickly, likely because he didn’t like eye contact for that long, his eyes always began searching the alphas face after a few beats. “Can…”

He stopped short and Chanyeol frowned, cupping his hair - because he was honestly scared how Baekhyun would react to touch his face so quickly - and using his shirt to clean up Baekhyun’s mouth more.

Like a child the omega just kind of whined and turned his head away which made Chanyeol laugh, “What were you saying, cutie?”

 _“Pumpkin,”_ Baekhyun sighed like he was exasperated and such a tone took Chanyeol back and he held in a deep chuckle because he didn’t want to startle Baekhyun with it.

“What were you saying, _pumpkin?_ Bossy pants.”

The omega scrunched his shoulders up with a cute grin, some thin escaping hairs over his nose that Baekhyun swept back with a flat palm, “Can… we see my owy?”

“I can check your ribs, Baekhyunnie. Of course.”

Normally, he never asked anyone but Yixing to check them, so Chanyeol was a tad bit shocked, but wouldn’t complain about being needed.

“Okay, alpha.”

“You can just call me Chanyeol, Baekhyun,” He mumbled, offering a hand to Baekhyun to pull him off the bed.

The omega just sort of stared up at him with a naturally soft expression that Chanyeol didn’t know how to interpret.

“Arms up, little one.”

Baekhyun giggled and from this angle Chanyeol could see all the tiny lines it created on his nose and forehead when he scrunched them up, raising his arms only about elbow high, it was high enough, he knew it hurt the omega to lift them all the way to the ceiling.

“Good boy, it’s not so scary, huh? Just checking your ribs and then the shirt will go right back on,” Chanyeol ranted, knowing the exact moment Baekhyun stopped giggling was when the omegas anxiety started trickling in.

“Kay.”

 _“Kay, pumpkin.”_ Chanyeol crooned, laying the shirt on the bed to his side and sighing as he saw Baekhyun’s anxious fiddling with his fingers, “Baby, I can get Yixing to do-“

“Want Chanyeol to!” Chanyeol flinched at the screech and knew Baekhyun hadn’t meant to get so worked up because his eyes went wide, scared before he whispered a softer, _“Chanyeol do it.”_

He didn’t know what in the world was going on in Baekhyun’s pretty head, but knew if he said no Baekhyun would likely go right back to the beginning to the world of not speaking to anyone at all.

“Sh, calm, Baekhyunnie. You’re not in trouble,” He promised, shuffling down to the floor once he saw the panicked look in Baekhyun’s eye.

He knew he was much bigger than him, and definitely not fragile, so Chanyeol knew he’d done the right thing by climbing down to his knees instead, sitting up on them with his eyes now level to the omegas stomach.

Baekhyun’s shoulders relaxed when he wasn't towering over him while the omega thought he’d done bad.

“Going to touch you, precious,” Chanyeol warned, giving the omega a moment to rest his chin down on his chest to watch him closely before cupping his hand around the slight discoloration around Baekhyun’s ribs.

Of course, it was not so bad now, it didn’t need to be bandaged but it was tender so he knew to feel gently along them for the swelling instead of full on putting pressure.

On the bright side, it looked _and_ felt much better than before. The lumps on his rib cage gone from where they’d begun pushing against muscle and skin.

“Too bad?”

“No, it’s not bad, sweet boy. Very good in fact.”

_“Good?”_

Chanyeol loved the tone of voice Baekhyun had when he heard injuries were healing, such an excited and sweet tone.

He chuckled and stood up, leaving a hand against the soft skin of Baekhyun’s side, “This is the only time I’ll ever see you so hurt, you know that? You’re never _ever_ going to be hurt like this again. Not under my watch, Baekhyun.”

The omega looked slightly confused, but the thing about Baekhyun is he didn’t really ask direct questions. Likely because he didn’t believe the answers he received anyway, he just liked to _observe_ people more.

So he didn’t say a word, not even when Chanyeol cupped his neck and pet the skin of his neck down to his shoulder, filling the space above pretty collarbones with a gentle, warm palm.

“You don’t have to believe me, moonlight, but I’m telling you the truth,” Chanyeol said softly, searching the light blue tinted eyes with a soft expression and giving a small nod, “Right? You can see in my eyes that I’m telling you the truth, Baekhyun. You’re such a smart boy, the smartest. My clever little one, you won’t get hurt with me.”

At first, he wasn’t sure what to think of Baekhyun’s expression, he was really good at hiding what he was thinking, but he _wasn’t good_ at hiding noises.

And Chanyeol was getting good at picking them out so when Baekhyun made a closed lip, bubbled cry from his chest he had no choice but to shush him and pull him into his chest.

It only made Baekhyun whimper more, and Chanyeol knew holding him - hugging him this tightly wasn’t a good idea when he’d likely been hurt by alphas under such close circumstances.

But, Baekhyun didn’t complain and instead his fingers curled into the bottom of Chanyeol’s shirt like he didn’t know what to do and the alpha soon felt warm tears on his top and soaking his chest as Baekhyun nuzzled in and _cried_ from his chest.

Baekhyun never cried this _hard._ He cried often and usually Chanyeol was forced to just watch him from across the room and deal with his pain of not comforting his mate, but not this time.

“Oh, bumblebee.” Chanyeol tsked, gently squeezing Baekhyun as he looked down at the omega, shaking his head with a deep set frown at the tears all over the omegas sniffling face. “Angel, why are you crying? Sh, sh, precious boy, don’t cry. I can’t stand you crying, baby.”

Baekhyun’s lips were all puffy and matched his eyes and he stiff sniffed so hard his shoulders shook and he was crying in the full on sob style of little whimpers coming from him as he lifted his chin to place it on Chanyeol’s chest, looking up at him.

Instantly Chanyeol was cupping his face to wipe away his tears, not even caring as he cleaned snot away with his palm, “Poor baby. I got you, honeybee.”

“Big-g a-alp-pha..”

He thought Baekhyun was saying so in a scared sense, because he had once before, so Chanyeol tried to duck down and get small because that’s what worked last time.

But when he took a seat on the bed, trying to make Baekhyun taller than him, the omega just yelped and tried to fit under his chin again, spine pressing to Chanyeol’s inner elbow as he forced himself into his chest.

Chanyeol had no idea what to think or do other than squeeze his balled up body and pressing kisses to Baekhyun’s head, “Pumpkin, I’m sorry. I know, I’m so sorry, baby. I can’t apologize for what someone else has done, but I can apologize for how you feel. I’m sorry I’m scary, I’m sorry. Sh, I know, I must scare you so muc-“

“Alph-pha big.”

Chanyeol realized then that Baekhyun didn’t mean it like that, because the omega tugged on his top, yanking at the material frantically and when he leaned back Baekhyun _scrambled_ inside.

His mate was little, much too thin, so he fit in easily against the cotton, leaning into his chest and rubbing a tearful cheek on his collarbone and whimpering to himself.

Chanyeol was more than shocked but he wouldn’t let that stop him from cupping Baekhyun’s ear to hold his head to his chest and petting his arm through the material, “That’s right, baby. That’s right, I’ll protect you. I’m big so I can protect you so well, bumble bee. Just cry it out, it’s okay.”

***

Things were slowly, but surely getting better.

Baekhyun found that he liked the alpha much more than he’d previously thought, because Chanyeol was very kind to him and told him very nice things.

The alpha seemed to know when bad things happened and when wasn’t a good time to come see him.

Chanyeol just had good _timing,_ and Baekhyun was beginning to understand more about things as time went on.

Like being _mates_ made really nice feelings come to his chest.

Just like when he had a nightmare a few nights ago and the alpha came running in like he just _knew it_ despite Baekhyun being silent.

Chanyeol just shushed him, hair disarrayed with his own tiredness and plucked him from his hiding place behind a laundry basket with a gentle, _“It's still bedtime, baby. Sh, it’s bedtime, time for a good dream.”_ And then Chanyeol rocked him back to sleep with stories that _did_ make Baekhyun have very good dreams about running around free and playing all he wanted _without_ a heavy weight on his leg.

So Baekhyun was _really_ starting to like him. Seeing him so much was very helpful, but he also knew being with Chanyeol wasn’t going to be the same as just anyone else.

 _That_ was what Baekhyun was scared of.

And the day had come.

Chanyeol was more than familiar with Baekhyun’s antics by now, the omega bouncing excitedly.

It seemed he'd dressed himself up today, and it was more than adorable to see Baekhyun swinging his legs back and forth waiting for him and wearing Chanyeol’s hoodie that went well past the black shorts the alpha knew had to be tied as tight as possible just to stay on his hips.

“Good morning, Bae-“

Chanyeol burst into laughter the second Baekhyun was impatiently throwing himself at him, lifting the omegas toes off the ground an inch or two as he swung him into a hug that his mate seemed more than impatient to get.

“You silly boy! You’re so excited? I missed you too, baby.”

Baekhyun just giggled into his shoulder, his toes scraping over Chanyeol's calves like he was trying to find ground.

The alpha grinned and set him to his feet but Baekhyun was still clinging, sniffing into his shirt a little, so he leaned down to let him hold on, hands petting down his spine and holding his narrow waist.

He knew Baekhyun was likely just getting used to the others smells too, it was hard for the omega to get used to them so Chanyeol was _trying_ to introduce their scents the past few weeks, but Baekhyun always seemed more interested in searching for his mates scent instead.

Chanyeol was more than okay with that.

“Are you ready to go out? We have many, many people to meet, my baby. You look so pretty, don’t be scared.”

They’d discussed it - and by discussed meaning Baekhyun didn’t _whine_ or burst into tears when Chanyeol suggested getting out of his room.

He knew the omega was more than afraid with the idea though.

“Big?”

Chanyeol smiled and pressed a kiss to Baekhyun’s head, petting the hair out of his face, “You’re so cute, you know that?” He chirped, “Of course I’m going to protect you the whole time, but you don’t have to worry, they’re very nice and will be so nice to you.”

Baekhyun looked less scared then, but only the _littlest_ bit, nodding as he clutched Chanyeol's shirt.

“Okay,” Chanyeol mumbled, scratching gently at Baekhyun’s hair before shuffling towards the door.

A tiny whine cut him off that made him smile, turning to offer a hand to the omega and Baekhyun took it as fast as he possibly could, bringing it to his nose and latching on tightly.

Chanyeol would let Baekhyun smell him whenever the hell the omega wanted because it seemed like Baekhyun was relieved _instantly._

As soon as they were beginning to walk outside though he felt Baekhyun stop and sighed, giving a gentle yank on his fingers but the omega was unmoving, frozen.

Likely shaken with all the scents which was _completely_ understandable.

“Okay, pumpkin,” Chanyeol murmured, stepping down a step and looking up at him, “How are we going to do this, honeybee?”

Baekhyun was sucking on his lip, giving a small hiss like noise when the alpha tugged his fingers; Chanyeol would never force Baekhyun to do anything he didn’t want to, but this was _needed_ because he couldn’t just have his mate in a single room forever.

“You think I would let something hurt you?” Chanyeol sounded upset, he knew it, and he also knew he shouldn’t expect much from Baekhyun in that realm when his mate was traumatized, but it still stung a bit.

Instead of answering, as Baekhyun tended not to do, the omega released a frightened noise and tossed his hands up, throwing himself down into Chanyeol’s chest with so much force the alpha nearly went rolling down the stairs.

He _didn’t_ though, Baekhyun didn’t have enough strength for anything but trying to climb up into his arms as if he was trying to sit on his shoulders, forcing himself into the alpha with tiny grunts.

“Okay, baby, okay - I hear you, moonlight,” He promised, scooping him up. Baekhyun grabbed his shirt tightly, pulling it away from Chanyeol’s chest to use as a curtain to cover his face.

Chanyeol wondered how cute he looked from an onlooker, but didn’t dwell too much when he was busy carrying Baekhyun down the stairs because he always wanted to hold him.

“You’re okay, I know it’s a lot. But nobody will hurt you, Baekhyun. I swear. Swear nobody will even touch you.”

The omega squeaked a cry when he first caught glimpse of someone that very much was _not_ someone he’d gotten familiar with - _not_ Yixing or Chanyeol.

“Yah! I said don’t bother him!” Yixing yelped before Sehun could make a move to coo at Baekhyun as soon as Chanyeol was stepping off the stairs.

At the voice Chanyeol felt Baekhyun peek out, but knew it was short lived when the omega nuzzled back into him.

“Okay, okay. Everyone just calm down,” Minseoks barked, pointing a finger to the couch where Sehun was pouting back to. “He’s scared - you’re scaring him.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Chanyeol whispered, voice soft and calm as he knelt down, setting Baekhyun onto his knee and hugging his waist, “Baekhyun is just afraid of everything right now, and that’s okay - it’s okay, baby. It’s fine.” He crooned, petting the omegas head.

Baekhyun’s eyes were so frantic, so fearful when he looked at Chanyeol that the alpha half debated on running him back upstairs. But that _wasn’t_ an option right now.

The omega released a high pitched cry, one even Chanyeol had never heard before, and he knew it wasn’t only him that the sound put on edge because he heard a hiss across the room and knew the noise was one only an omega could make to entice, because he’d never heard _Junmyeon_ \- such a kind beta - make a noise so deep.

“No, it’s fine. You’re fine, you’re okay.” Chanyeol repeated as Baekhyun threw his head down into his neck, nails scratching in a soothing motion at the alphas collar.

“Chanyeol, I think he’s too-“

“He’s okay. He’s going to be okay,” The alpha argued gently, pressing his forehead into Baekhyun’s and nuzzling into his nose, his mate _wasn't_ crying and that said so much despite his obvious fear.

Baekhyun not crying was already a huge win.

_“Kay.”_

“Yeah, that’s right, you’re okay.” Chanyeol agreed even though he was sure Baekhyun was simply mimicking him, pressing a kiss to the omegas cheek. “Good boy, doing so well, pumpkin.”

It took a while for Baekhyun to calm down enough to even pull his face away from Chanyeol’s to look around, but he did after many minutes passed, perhaps close to an hour, all Chanyeol knew was that his legs were going numb.

“You want to start easy?”

Baekhyun didn’t look like he wanted to start meeting anyone at _all,_ but he still nodded and Chanyeol was so proud of him.

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol muttered, shifting Baekhyun to stand on his own feet and feeling his heart jump at the whimper the omega gave him before clutching instantly at his top when Chanyeol stood up.

He knew Baekhyun would want him close at all times, and for that reason he was curling around the omegas back to hold him to his chest like he was sheltering him, pressing his chin to Baekhyun’s shoulder because he knew it scared him not to be able to _see_ everything at all times.

“Starting easy, baby. This is _Kyungsoo,_ and he’s a beta.” Chanyeol slowly motioned the beta closer with a curled finger, other hand sprawled over Baekhyun’s stomach and petting over his hoodie, “He’s nice, see? He looks nice, he’s been making you so many meals.”

Honestly, he'd chosen Kyungsoo only for his _smile,_ because the beta had a mean angry face and scolding look that would scare Baekhyun in an instant - but Chanyeol knew they’d be gentle with Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo was all smiles.

“Hi, I hope you enjoyed them,” Kyungsoo still stood about two feet away, but Baekhyun already looked more than uncomfortable with that. “If you tell me your favorite I can make it for you.”

At least until he leaned forward to sniff at the beta, bending at the waist with his eyes down.

Chanyeol felt him relax even though he wasn’t even sure what the omega was searching for in the others scent. “Baekhyun doesn’t talk very much, but he loves food, so I know he’s very happy to meet you, Soo.”

Kyungsoo smiled much wider then, a heart shaped one and Baekhyun made a tiny noise of confusion.

Chanyeol laughed and kissed his temple, “Baby, Kyungsoo's mate is Jongin- you don’t have to meet him right now,” He pointed to the alpha across the room, Jongin looking much happier to be included.

_“Mate?”_

“Yes, they’re mates, so you don’t need to worry.”

Baekhyun twisted to lock his hands around Chanyeol's neck, not quite scared or anxiously getting in his space, but still squirming like he wanted to be held all the same, _“Mates.”_ He whispered into Chanyeol’s cheek, making an angry noise when the alpha wasn’t picking him up fast enough.

Baekhyun had done so good today - coming downstairs, meeting at least one person, recognizing them as mates - that was so _much._

So Chanyeol was proud of him and decided that was enough for today, “Okay, bumble bee, that’s enough for today. I know and I hear you, you’re such a good boy.”

***

There was one thing Baekhyun was not afraid of.

The omega loved going outside, he liked to lay in grass until he started to get itchy, and only then was when the pack could really see just how sweet and innocent Baekhyun _was_ because the omega was touch and go with them.

Really, Baekhyun would have good days and bad days, and even if he’d met them a million times sometimes Chanyeol would just have grabby hands yanking him around like a shield.

That was fine, because Chanyeol didn’t mind being his shield at all, even more so when outside because he knew Baekhyun didn’t like being close to the edge of trees.

“He’s cute.”

Chanyeol snickered and accepted the bottle of water from Minseok, nodding a bit from his spot watching on the porch.

Honestly, he was surprised Baekhyun even had enough courage to wander around the yard all on his own anyway, so long as nobody else tried to approach too close he was okay.

Plus, Baekhyun had even responded back to the pack a few times today, albeit from feet away, but still it was a _reply._

“Yeah. I was really worried… at first, but he’s getting there.”

“Do you think he’s ever going to _get_ there though?”

Chanyeol twisted his lips in thought, leaning over his knees, “I mean, a week ago Baekhyun never would have let me sleep in a bed with him _or_ had come down for breakfast, so that’s saying a lot - more than a lot. He’s trying really hard here and the least we can do is give him some space.”

He heard Minseok sigh and knew the eldest was only watching out for him, but Baekhyun wasn’t anyone’s responsibility but his own. “What did he say even happened anyway-“

_“Hi!”_

Chanyeol almost gasped with shock at the omegas yell, because it wasn’t aimed at him but at Minseok with a flopping hand wave rather than shuffling feet.

Maybe Baekhyun was just _very_ overwhelmed right now, he had no idea, but the omega even _looking_ at another alpha this long was questionable.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Minseok sounded just as, if not more, surprised than Chanyeol felt, and he knew the eldest just took back everything he’d just been saying as he stood up, “You’re so sweet today, I’m going to go see what they’re making you for lunch, sweet pea.”

Baekhyun was going to be spoiled rotten, and that was _more_ than okay.

His mate waited patiently feet away for Minseok to leave before he was bubbling an excited noise and launching at Chanyeol.

The alpha snickered but let Baekhyun climb between his crossed legs on the porch all the same, hugging his shoulders and pressing his nose into the omegas hair to smell the gentle scent of grass and dew on him.

It was a much better feeling to hold him knowing Baekhyun got to play for a while then holding him while the omega just laid bed ridden.

Even _if_ the omega was a little rotten and was yanking his water bottle from his fingers as if it was his own and plopping his legs over Chanyeol's thigh like he was king of the world and had all the right to treat his mate like a chair.

Baekhyun really did have all the right though, so Chanyeol just kissed his head and watched the almost frantic way his mate chugged water. Like he was trying to drown himself complete with a watery cough after and everything.

“Slow down, pumpkin. You’re going to hurt yourself drinking so fast.”

“Too fast.”

Chanyeol snorted and kissed his cheek dramatically loud reducing the omega to a fit of giggles, “Too fast! Baby, that's too fast just like you are _too cute!”_

Baekhyun squirmed happily, laughing and wiggling before he had his pointer finger at Chanyeol's lips with a cute, mischievous expression, “Not _baby!_ You’re baby!”

What a huge _lie,_ but Chanyeol just nuzzled playfully into his finger until Baekhyun screeched a happy noise and unfolded his palm to let the alpha kiss into with a purr.

For someone that completely disliked and was incredibly dreadful of alphas just over a month before, Baekhyun sure loved his _mate's_ attention and that was so much more than Chanyeol could have asked for.

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun cried with flushed cheeks, wiggling his fingers on the alphas cheek for attention with his nose scrunched up, “Chanyeol, Chanyeol.”

“My little songbird today, hm?” Chanyeol cooed, grabbing his fingers to kiss along his knuckles, “You’re talking so much today, it makes me so very, very, very happy.”

“Very, very!”

God, Chanyeol was _very very_ happy, but he felt like he might just explode with adoration.

Baekhyun looked somewhat similar as he moved onto his knees between the alphas spread legs in order to press their faces together, cooing and rubbing up into him.

If Chanyeol didn’t know his mate was incredibly innocent, he’d think he was seducing him, but that was incredibly unlikely even if Baekhyun said he hadn’t been mated but _beaten_ for saying no.

Chanyeol understood that Baekhyun just wanted a lot of love.

“I love you, moonlight, do you know that? Hm? Can you tell I love you so much?” Chanyeol mumbled, cupping behind Baekhyun’s ear to hold him still to nuzzle back, “Love you.”

Baekhyun didn’t have to say it back, but the omega squeaked and started to squirm into his chest so much so that it nearly hurt, but Chanyeol just laughed and laid down on his back despite the wooden porch not being a desired resting place.

His mate just took a place flopped down on his chest, pressing his nose and mouth into Chanyeol’s cheek and pressing his scent into his skin.

It just made Chanyeol grin and press a kiss to what he’d _thought_ would be Baekhyun’s cheek, but it turned out to be the corner of slightly chapped lips.

It was like Baekhyun froze, so Chanyeol prepared to soothe him calm, but the omega just sort of huffed and bumped his nose to Chanyeol’s with a soft chirping noise, hands on the alphas chest doing a kneading motion Chanyeol recognized as one that meant his mate was tired.

“ ‘gain.”

Chanyeol snickered and pressed a kiss to demanding lips and a second to the side of his mouth all the while petting his hair and spine.

At least it was warm with Baekhyun curled on his chest, even if his back was going to hurt from this.

“Thank you.”

He stared at a happy, twinkling eye expression before sighing and pecking Baekhyun’s lips once more, finding it endearing that his mate tried to follow his lips but got tired and instead laid his face in the crook of his neck. “Get some sleep, pumpkin. I’ll take you to bed in a minute.”

  
***

“You want more, sweetheart?”

Baekhyun’s eyes shot away from the television with a jolt, twisting from his spot on the floor to look up at Junmyeon with a shocked expression.

The beta shook the empty bowl that once held chips a bit, “More chips, Baekhyun? Do you want more?”

The omega fiddled with the edge of his sleeve, instead of answering turning to look where Chanyeol had been seated behind him in a chair, but the alpha was no longer there and now Baekhyun felt frantic as he looked around and noticed it was just him with everyone else scattered downstairs.

He gasped quietly, instantly beginning to rock a bit to soothe himself, “Chan?” He pointed to the empty chair.

“Chanyeol is out front, Baekhyunnie, remember? He said he was going out front for a minute.” Kyungsoo stated quietly.

Baekhyun _didn’t_ remember that, and he normally was really good about listening to his mate.

Now he was frantically fiddling with the edge of his shirt, leaning over his lap as he murmured again, _“Chanyeol.”_

“Oh, pup,” Yixing sighed and walked over to kneel in front of Baekhyun slowly, “Baby, he’s coming back in in just a moment, can’t alpha breathe for a second?”

No. No he couldn't if it meant leaving him alone with so many people, Baekhyun began to rock harder, yelping a high pitched, _“Chanyeol!”_

At this point his vision was fading in and out and he was beginning to whimper uncontrollably.

“Baekhyun, cub, it’s okay. Nobody is here to hurt you,” Minseok mumbled across the room, and it didn’t help at _all._

It just made Baekhyun that much more aware of the fact that there were alphas in the room that could hurt him.

He released a loud yelp, an ear piercing noise and launched towards the coffee table, scrambling underneath before anyone could get words out and cradling his head.

They all just looked around in shock, unsure of what to do as Baekhyun began to howl, cry and shake.

They all knew it was obvious Baekhyun had problems being around anyone minus Chanyeol, so it was a big deal for the alpha to just leave him here.

“Baekhyun,” Jongin called quietly, leaning over the back of the couch with an apologetic look, “Baekhyun, we can watch you too. You don’t have to feel alone, it’s okay.”

But, it was obvious Baekhyun would be screaming and crying painfully for everyone to hear until he got Chanyeol back.

It was nerve wracking and painful, like the noise a puppy made knowing it’s owner was in the room over.

Only Baekhyun was a _person_ with much more trauma that needed to be paid attention to, and he was no puppy that would be swayed with a few easy pets.

“Sh, we’re getting him, you want to see him?”

Baekhyun was still whimpering, face covered in glassy tears as he uncovered it to look up at Yixing, face pink and cheek lying on the rug.

“Come on out and I’ll take you to him, sweetheart,” The beta cooed, smoothing the bangs from Baekhyun’s forehead.

With soft sniffles, Baekhyun began to shimmy out from beneath the table, shoulders shaking and wringing hands on his top.

“That’s right, pup. You’re such a good boy, it’s okay.” Kyungsoo commented, moving to the opposite end of the couch into Jongin's arms to clear space for Baekhyun to walk through.

It was unneeded, but it was clear Baekhyun didn’t want to be close to anyone.

Baekhyun flinched away when Yixing tried to put a hand on his back, cowering with a whine until the beta started walking in front of him instead, leading to the front door.

As _soon_ as Baekhyun heard his alphas voice he started crying harder, making loud and frightful yips impatiently waiting for the door to open.

Chanyeol only had time to hear it once before the door was being pulled open and suddenly the squealing got louder before he had an omega at his neck and screeching in a way that set all his instincts off.

He growled and twisted around from his spot seated on the porch step, tossing his notebook to the side to yank Baekhyun into his lap and under his chin, squeezing his mate into a little ball. “What the hell?”

“He got scared-“

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Baekhyun squealed without anything even happening, nuzzling into Chanyeol’s chest and if possible trying to get small enough to be cradled like an actual baby. “No hit! No hit! No bad!”

“Sh, baby, I know. I know.” Chanyeol cooed although having zero idea what was going on.

He’d just come to get some fresh air, knowing Baekhyun was preoccupied with his show and the omega hadn’t even moved a muscle when he’d kissed his head and said where he was going.

“No! No, sorry!”

“Baby, Baekhyun, hey. Hey-“ Chanyeol gasped in shock when Baekhyun began to flail wildly, but not hurting _him._ Hurting himself, smacking his arms and legs.

He’d _never_ seen Baekhyun do such a thing, to kick or act out like this was nothing he’d witnessed from the omega before.

“- Baek- Baekhyun, baby-“ He had trouble even grabbing the angry limbs but once he did Baekhyun just outright _wailed,_ going limp and sobbing from his chest.

If Chanyeol didn’t know any better he’d think Baekhyun was mad at _himself_ because even when he tried to kiss his tears away the omega flopped like he wanted out of his arms.

“Baekhyun. _Baekhyun.”_ Chanyeol said firmly, not growling because he wasn’t _mad_ , but stern to get his attention.

Plus, the tone seemed to help Baekhyun calm down, whimpers falling slightly lighter from his mouth.

Chanyeol sighed because he’d felt so much anxiety just watching this happen and felt powerless, arm around the back of Baekhyun’s head and fingers lingering over his ear, pulling him closer to kiss his temple. “Sh, calm down, bumblebee. You’re scared - I know. You’re worried - I understand, but you’re not in any trouble.”

The omega whined, sniffing with tears down his cheeks, _“Chanyeol.”_

The alpha shook his head slightly at the sad tone, bringing Baekhyun’s cheek to his lips to kiss his skin. “You’re overwhelmed. It’s okay, it was an accident, but you’re not allowed to hurt yourself like that, okay? If you do that again… if you do that again I’ll just have to kiss you silly, baby.”

Baekhyun’s shoulders shook with both a cry and a soft laugh, wiping his eyes with the flat of his palms, “Want silly.”

Chanyeol grinned slightly restrained as his heart was still racing with panic from witnessing the events moments before, “If you dry up those tears I’ll kiss you _so_ silly, pumpkin.”

***

Baekhyun, if not having a nightmare, normally slept throughout the night fine.

So, Chanyeol was incredibly confused when he woke up and his mate wasn’t beside him _or_ dangling off the side of the bed because Baekhyun squirmed a lot.

They’d only just begun sleeping together - and Chanyeol was incredibly relieved to abandon the couch - but he prided himself in learning Baekhyun’s habits quickly, and disappearing was not a habit he did.

He was debating on freaking out, but before he could there were footsteps in the hall outside, the stairs creaking.

Chanyeol wasn’t one to be up this late and wasn’t sure if this was a habit of Baekhyun’s. Honestly, if the omega had snuck downstairs while he had been asleep on the couch his scent only would have made the alphas sleep state much better, so he wouldn’t know.

He pretended to be asleep for a bit longer, knowing Baekhyun would assume him to be, and he was proven right when his mate slid into the room again.

God, even this late and interrupting his sleep Baekhyun was so adorable it was nearly obnoxious, holding a package of cookies and humming to himself like it wasn’t three in the morning.

Baekhyun went on to do his own things for a little, and Chanyeol was curious what the omega got up to when he wasn’t around and didn’t feel guilty at all watching him.

Plus, Baekhyun just dragged his pajama bottom covered feet around the floor, walking over to the laptop they’d brought in for movies and hitting the spacebar to unpause it.

Chanyeol heard him make a soft disapproving noise at realizing the alpha had turned it off after his mate fell asleep and almost gave himself away with a chuckle.

His mate then chomped on a cookie, using the same flat palm to his mouth technique that ended with crumbs everywhere but it was cute so nobody complained.

Baekhyun wandered around the room, picking up a jacket off the floor and Chanyeol sighed contentedly when the omega sniffed it and then decided he wanted it and threw it over his shoulder to carry it around with him.

If his mate wanted his scent then he could come back to _bed,_ but Baekhyun looked like he was working up to that as he walked back and forth to finish his cookies.

Chanyeol truly had no idea how he hadn’t woken up to this before, because it wasn’t like Baekhyun was quiet at _all._ His mate didn’t really keep any noises in or restrain himself even though it was late.

He just made all the sound he wanted.

Baekhyun bent down beside the bed to - what Chanyeol assumed - was to dig in the side table for something to mess with, likely his hairbrush, and the alpha knew he gave himself away when he didn’t shut his eyes quick enough and his mate caught him red handed.

It didn’t seem Baekhyun minded though because he just beamed with all teeth on show, face puffy with sleep even though Chanyeol had no clue how long he’d been up.

“Chan.”

Chanyeol immediately smiled, scooting back to make room in bed, “What are you doing wandering around, sweet boy?”

Baekhyun giggled and slid under the covers, squirming closer until he could cling onto Chanyeol’s waist and force a leg over the alpha like a little monkey.

His mate just hummed of course, petting his cheek as the omega looked up at him with a deep huff like he was _exhausted_ despite running around for the past half hour or more.

“Do you do this all the time? Run away and then come back to bed?”

“See Sehun.”

Chanyeol nearly jolted in shock, he'd _never_ seen Baekhyun even do more than nod or shake his head to the youngest, but of course Baekhyun did classify those things as _talking_ even if they weren’t.

“What? You’ve been seeing Sehun? Since when?”

Baekhyun didn’t seem to notice the fact that Chanyeol was nearly tearing up because he was so happy, his mate just sniffed into his collarbone, “Give snack.”

Chuckling, Chanyeol should have figured Baekhyun wouldn’t really answer him, he didn’t feel the need too, that much was obvious.

“Okay, baby,” Chanyeol murmured, pressing the omegas bangs off his forehead to kiss his skin tiredly, “I’m glad.”

“Mhm,” The omega grinned sleepily, nuzzling into his nose in a _give me kisses_ notion he always did to silently ask for kisses.

Grinning ear to ear, Chanyeol grasped his jaw between two fingers to peck his lips, nosing along Baekhyun’s cheek seeing as his mate huffed a happy breath onto his face.

Junmyeon had begun worrying that Baekhyun was _too_ reliant on him - and it was more than 100% true, but after all his mate had gone through, not that Chanyeol knew much, the alpha figured Baekhyun had more than enough room to cling like a monkey if he so wanted.

Plus, he suspected the others just wanted to learn more about the omega too, jealous that Baekhyun didn’t want to spend time with anyone else.

“Love you, goodnight.”

Baekhyun didn't seem to like the sudden words, whining and pressing into his mouth so much so that Chanyeol could feel the warmth of his breath between parted lips.

He laughed and didn’t feel the need to scold even if Baekhyun should be resting, laying a hand over his mates cheek to run his thumb over his skin. “Why are you so angry, baby? It’s so late. It’s bedtime.”

“No. Together time.”

Chanyeol could argue that it was _always_ together time then, but instead snorted and kissed below Baekhyun’s eye, watching his mate close it for a few beats before opening them with a whine and snuggling closer for more.

“I know, honeybee. I love you _too,_ but it’s bedtime,” Chanyeol crooned, nuzzling back gentler than Baekhyun was being, “Sleep tight, pumpkin.”

He thought Baekhyun was settling down a little because he gave a small annoyed, chocolate tasting huff on Chanyeol’s mouth, but as soon as the alpha shut his eyes Baekhyun was bumping their noses together again with high pitched, squeaking whines.

Chanyeol couldn't physically hand that _and_ sort of wondered what was wrong with his mate being that Baekhyun normally valued sleep so much.

He shifted to sit against the headboard with a sigh, gathering his mate under his arms to tug into his lap much like a baby the way he draped Baekhyun across his thighs.

That was _fine,_ Baekhyun was entitled to all the love he wanted.

“Why so pouty, bumblebee? It’s bedtime, my little rascal.” Chanyeol cooed, kissing his temple and smoothing a hand over Baekhyun’s stomach.

_“Alpha nice.”_

He nearly laughed if Baekhyun hadn’t have said such a thing with such conviction and a beaming, tired eye smile.

Then it just made his stomach twist.

“Of course, Baekhyun.”

“Chan real _nice,”_ Baekhyun cooed, worming his head under Chanyeol's chin. “No yelling, no hitting. Just _nice.”_

Chanyeol didn’t want to talk about this right now, but then again, he didn’t _ever_ want to talk about this, so he really had no right to stop Baekhyun short because he knew he would _never_ be ready to talk about this with the omega.

“Always going to be _nice_ to you, and everyone here will be nice to you, pumpkin.” Chanyeol promised, wrapping a curl around his finger and running soft hair through his palm, “It's not too bad here, right? You never say if you like it or not, so I don’t like to assume just because we are mates you’re happy.”

Baekhyun pouted up at him, eyes wide and slightly puffy, twisting to holding onto his top, “Happy here.”

It was so relieving to hear that, Chanyeol felt his eyes water over just those two words for no apparent reason.

“Okay, beautiful.” He gentle shifted to pull Baekhyun’s chin up in order to kiss his mouth a few times, his mate giggling with an obvious tiredness to it. “Sleep tight, pumpkin. We can talk some more later.”

  
***

“Baek? Earth to Baek?”

A hand waved in front of the omegas face and Baekhyun blinked at it, blinking rapidly at the television screen before turning with a quiet squeak to acknowledge the hand.

Sehun laughed and shook his head from his spot seated on the coffee table that was pushed out of the middle of the living room.

“Aren’t you sore from sitting down there all the time? You can sit on the couch, you know that?”

“He knows, he just likes it,” Chanyeol answered as he walked in from the kitchen, kneeling down to Baekhyun’s level to press a kiss to his head and place a bottle of orange juice beside the omega.

For some reason, Baekhyun was just obsessed with the stuff.

“Huh, honeybee? You can sit on the couch if you’d like, you know that?”

Baekhyun didn’t reply, he just acted like he didn’t even notice Chanyeol combing his hair as he leaned over his lap and began to rock back and forth as he eyed the television again, bringing a stuffed animal lion under his chin to fiddle with.

_“Chanyeol.”_

The alpha heard Minseok sigh and rolled his eyes a bit - he knew how it looked, it looked like Baekhyun really needed a lot of help.

It just was _unsettling_ sometimes how much Baekhyun liked to move around and stim, usually moving his feet around on soft objects or rocking a lot, the squeezing of toys and soft items was new though.

But that was likely because Baekhyun had only _just_ gotten a bunch of stuffed animals and gifts because it was about time someone went out to get him stuff.

“He’s fine, he just likes to do it.”

 _“Chanyeol,”_ Minseok sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked over the back of the couch, “You can’t just say _he likes it_ and make it any less worrying.”

“What do you want me to say then, Min?” Chanyeol huffed under his breath, gently petting Baekhyun’s head, “He _does_ like it.”

“That doesn’t make it any less disturbing, he needs _treatment._ You don’t know if that’s dangerous for him to be doing, Chanyeol, you can’t just keep- _“_

“He’s _traumatized,”_ The alpha cut off Minseok before he could even hear it, laying a hand on Baekhyun’s chest to stop his rocking.

As soon as it was stopped Baekhyun just brought his toy up under his chin and started squeezing that as if replacing the rocking with another movement.

“Yeol…” Sehun mumbled quietly, “Nobody is saying there’s something wrong, we’re just saying what if it’s hurting him - what if he’s doing it because he’s scared or something?”

Chanyeol really didn’t want to get into this, but nobody else knew Baekhyun like he did, nobody knew _anything_ about him other than how he was found.

And that was _it._

“Baby,” He murmured, twisting to get into Baekhyun’s line of vision, “Can I show your ankle, please?”

Despite looking out of the world, like he wasn’t paying any attention at all, Baekhyun grunted a soft noise from behind his toy and lifted his leg up a bit as if offering.

So adorable and sweet and _trusting of him,_ Chanyeol smiled and pressed a kiss to his nose before getting out of his way so he could continue his show.

“See, Baekhyun wasn’t _allowed_ to move a lot at all,” Chanyeol said, rolling up the bottom of Baekhyun’s sweatpants, he got them to about mid calf before the omega started to wiggle his toes around making the alpha laugh fondly.

He knew all of Baekhyun’s silent signals now, and _foot rubs_ were always Chanyeol’s excuse for putting bruise cream on his leg even though it wasn’t really helping when the thing on his ankle and around the top of his foot was not a bruise.

It really was just indented scars of odd colors, the structure wrapped around and it was unmistakably Baekhyun having been tied - in this case chained - to keep him still or at least close.

Chanyeol never asked for more than what Baekhyun offered to say, and normally it wasn’t much more than puppy eyes and murmurs about chains.

“So, yes,” He said firmly, massaging gently over his mate's toes, “In _this_ case, Baekhyun likes to move and it’s _not_ for much more than because he finally _can move._ If I thought he needed medical help, I would take him myself. You guys are just being worried, I get it, but Baekhyun really just likes to be free because he _couldn’t be-“_

“Move.” Baekhyun chirped suddenly, abruptly interested as if he’d finally caught up to the conversation, “Move please.”

At that, Chanyeol released his foot instantly, letting Baekhyun do what he wanted and in this case it was moving onto his knees and crawling over to hug Chanyeol’s neck, resting a chin to his shoulder and making a grunt as he used his knees to try and push at the alpha to move.

“Oh- we didn’t know,” Minseok sounded teary, and Chanyeol knew the feeling.

“It’s okay,” He mumbled, holding Baekhyun’s waist to rock him back and forth himself because he knew what his mate wanted even if he just ordered in soft and quiet noises, “Just know that I’d never just let Baekhyun be… scared further by going to see someone just because he likes to be moving, you didn’t understand. But now you do, and he really does _like_ to do a lot of things, I’m not just saying that as an excuse, he just likes to do things, if he was scared or having an incident then trust me - _everyone_ would know the difference.”

God knew Chanyeol knew, he witnessed Baekhyun’s fear first hand all the _time,_ all his mates scattered hiding and high pitched cries.

He slept like an angel, but sometimes Baekhyun awoke in panic even though he never said he had a bad dream.

Sometimes it just took him a little to remember where he was.

“Like… like last time? Hiding under the table?” Sehun stumbled.

Chanyeol hummed and kissed Baekhyun’s ear as he felt the omega huff warmly into his neck and the soft fabric of the stuffed animal brushing his shoulder. “Baekhyun can talk himself, you know? Sometimes you might not be able to understand him, but if you ask him things, he replies. Isn’t that right, honeybee? You like to talk _sometimes,_ and _other times_ just noises are okay.”

Baekhyun sat back with eyes glossed tiredly, but not lost, he knew what they’d been speaking about even if he didn’t join in, Chanyeol could see it.

He pressed a thin finger to Chanyeol’s cheek with a playful grin, “Chan _know.”_

“That’s right, pumpkin, I _always_ know. But we can teach everyone else to understand you too, baby. Let’s work on that.”

***

“Woah, woah, _woah!”_

The last one was more a screech than anything but it still made Chanyeol laugh loudly at Baekhyun’s amazement.

“Baek, it’s cold, go slowly!” Sehun laughed, echoing across the yard as he unkinked the hose.

Baekhyun just squealed loudly and high pitched, doing the most adorable hopping back and forth on his toes and pointing at the sprinkler.

Chanyeol was leaning over the porch railing just in case, because Baekhyun wouldn’t want him out of his sight for too long, but also because he didn’t want to miss anything if it made Baekhyun this excited.

Most new things made his mate _more_ than excited - and everyone liked to both see and hear it, so it explained why so many of them were watching.

Jongdae had gotten into the habit of video recording lately, and in the future maybe Baekhyun would find himself funny for being so adorable and naive.

It was only a sprinkler after all, but his omega was absolutely _amazed_ when he’d seen Sehun dragging it out to water the yard, squealing and pointing while trying to block Chanyeol’s vision with his own face to silently ask about it.

“Go slow, Baek!” He heard Kyungsoo worry, “Sehun, he’s going to slip and fall!”

Neither Sehun nor Baekhyun seemed to be listening though because the omega was always flopping a hand happily and laughing like it was incredibly hilarious when he jumped by it and it sprayed his legs.

Baekhyun really didn’t have much words to say more than half the time, but his expressions and actions were hard to misinterpret - if he was _anything_ happy, he made sure every single person for miles heard his laughter.

Chanyeol chuckled and cupped his hands around his mouth to yell, “Are you going to get in all the way or what, baby!”

Baekhyun grinned gummily and snapped his head up to send an excited shriek, flipping his hands back and forth like saying, _look! Do you see this!_

If he was _this_ excited over a sprinkler, Chanyeol couldn’t wait until it was actually summer, not mid winter - thankfully it didn’t get cold here, and they could actually bring out some pools.

Little ones because he had no idea if Baekhyun could swim yet, and definitely wasn’t going to just drop his mate in a pool and expect him to know how.

“Oh _god,_ I’m getting water guns next time I go to town.” Jongin commented as he leaned onto the railing beside Chanyeol, pulling Kyungsoo under his arm and smiling wide as he turned to look at the other alpha, “Who knew omegas were so cute? Like a puppy.”

Chanyeol definitely didn’t see Baekhyun as a puppy like everyone else did, but he did see him as the most adorable creature he’d ever seen in his entire life.

With how much everyone had grown to love and be protective of Baekhyun, Chanyeol knew he was going to get his ass kicked the day Baekhyun asked him to mate, because they really did see him as a pup still.

Unfair when they were mates and Chanyeol very much saw Baekhyun as an adult - he was beautiful, he just needed a bit of extra help.

God, they were going to kill him for mating his own _mate_ eventually - not in the near future certainly, but he’d be dead when that day came.

“I knew omegas were so cute,” Yixing bragged.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, “Shut up, Baekhyun is the _cutest,_ there’s no _all omegas are cute -_ just Baekhyun.”

“Someone’s testy.”

The alpha snorted but didn’t deny that, just resting his chin on his jaw and watching Baekhyun get soaked with the sprinkler.

Sehun really didn’t play like this either, so it was nice to see him actually want to be young, he just never seemed to want to be before.

Baekhyun just _did_ that to people - made them happy and child-like again, yet at the same time made them protective of him.

He really was something amazing.

“Yah! Hey! No, no! Absolutely not, get in here before you both get sick!” Junmyeon screamed, the screen door hitting the house wall as he yelled, turning his glare on the onlookers, “It’s too cold for that! You’re going to get them sick, aish! Chanyeol, Baekhyun _just_ got over sniffling!”

A minute prior, Chanyeol had no thoughts as to his mate getting sick, only focused on his giggles and his hair getting matted with water down on his forehead.

Now he was going wide eyed and jumping down the stairs, “Baek! Baby!”

 _“Chanyeol!”_ The omega yipped visibly worked up as he flailed a hand at the water, flinging the water on his hand all over, “Woah!”

“Yeah, woah! So cool,” He agreed quickly, huffing at himself as he felt the cold water hit his leg, he didn’t think it was even cold out, but he was also an alpha and _not_ just now gaining weight and someone who only got rid of sniffles a day prior.

He leaned down to grab Baekhyun’s hips and yank him over his shoulder, getting a shrill noise from his mate before he could picture Baekhyun’s pink face as giggles started up. “Bathtime, you little rascal! Warm bath - then hot chocolate and snuggles!”

“Marshmallow!” Baekhyun demanded, face red from being upside down and laughing so much.

“Marshmallows, deal!”

 _“Deal!”_ He heard the omega mimick before there was a light pat on his bottom and a bunch of mischievously giggling.

Chanyeol burst into chuckles, “Did you just _spank me? You little weirdo!”_

Baekhyun’s loud laughter was more than answer enough.

  
***

“Yum!”

Chanyeol made a soft acknowledging noise but Baekhyun wasn’t having that at all, leaning over to tap the alphas cheek even though he was very busy right now.

“Chan, yum!”

“Yes, it’s so good, pup!” Junmyeon cooed across the long dining table, dropping a bowl of mashed potatoes down, “But your alpha is too busy to look, baby, you wouldn’t want him to get hurt, right? Everyone else can talk to you right now.”

Baekhyun pouted dramatically, lips poking out endearingly as he looked at his mate holding a huge knife.

“ ‘cuz present day?”

Laughter rang around at the omegas cute claim meanwhile Minseok reached across the table to grab Baekhyun’s empty plate to begin filling up before the little one jumped across the table for food.

“Because it’s Christmas and I am cutting a huge turkey to feed your hungry belly!” Chanyeol cried, making his mate squirm harder in his seat on giggles.

Baekhyun really had _zero_ idea what holidays were - it was expected given he was raised in a place not super integrated.

It meant there were many things to teach him, even if some were sad like learning Baekhyun had no idea when his birthday was or how old he was.

Things like that seemed like something people took for granted, it was odd for someone not to know such a thing, but having a family member that didn’t have one made things more complex.

It made them want to appreciate things more now.

So Christmas- aka present day as per their omegas conclusion - was very special.

“What this?” Baekhyun sat up onto his knees in his wooden chair rather hazardously making Jongin who was seated on the omegas opposite side reach over to steady it in an instant.

Baekhyun didn’t even acknowledge his wobbly chair, nearly poking a finger into a pie across the table, “What _this?”_

“Apple pie, I thought you’d like it.” Kyungsoo answered.

“But!” Minseok interrupted, passing Baekhyun’s plate to Chanyeol, “No deserts until real food, cub.”

Baekhyun all out pouted, deflating dramatically and wiggling as he sat back onto his feet, knees digging into the chair cushion as he whined.

His mate laughed at his antics, turning to peck Baekhyun’s cheekbone as he laid his full plate down in front of him, “Don’t worry, there is plenty for you to come down and eat up all night later,” He teased, blowing a raspberry into the omegas cheek.

Baekhyun squealed, playfully placing his palm over Chanyeol's face and getting louder when the alpha just continued.

It was such a childish thing to do, but anything that made Baekhyun happy made everyone happy.

And his omega was more than happy, wiggling until he couldn’t control himself anymore before plopping over Chanyeol's shoulder with a grunt that meant _hold me!_

“Aish, can’t even sit in his spot for one meal!” Chanyeol heard Sehun tease, but knew the alpha was more fond of Baekhyun than he let on.

(Especially because of his late night snack stealing for the omega which Chanyeol pretended he had no idea about.)

He pulled Baekhyun into his lap, snickering as he adjusted the purple plaid pajama top on his mate, leaning over Baekhyun’s back to roll up his sleeves before they’d have to leave early for a change of clothes.

These ones were already brand new - legitimately ripped from their box only hours prior just like the pile of things now in their room and the pretty planet covered headband that had Baekhyun’s long hair held back.

“Wiggly boy, he just loves his mate so much, huh, bumble bee?” Chanyeol mused, hurrying to finish his task before bringing Baekhyun’s plate closer before his mate decided to start binging from hot pans instead.

Baekhyun squealed a happy noise, not an answer technically, but very much a Baekhyun answer as he snatched a chunk of meat off his plate.

“I think Baek just loves everyone,” Yixing commented, “He told me _Xing makes me happy_ yesterday, and if that’s not a Baekhyun I love you, then I have no idea what is.”

“Is that right, baby?” Chanyeol asked softly, snorting at the way Baekhyun was already making a mess of his face.

With all his mates happy dancing while he ate, there would be no way Chanyeol would be eating at the same time, but that was okay because Baekhyun would get tired out and take a break in a few minutes to whine in his neck and make noises to be hand fed.

Baekhyun smiled super big, licking pink lips as he made a chirp, twisting to press a turkey tasting kiss to Chanyeol’s mouth. “Yummy, Chanyeol!”

Everyone started laughing at the omega once more, seeing as Baekhyun really either payed no attention at all, or his thoughts just ran faster than he could get them out.

He was a literal jumping bean, but so long as Chanyeol was there he didn’t really have problems adjusting to the others as bad.

With the exception of however the hell Sehun made Baekhyun trust him enough to meet him nightly to snack, the others just gradually had to earn the omegas trust.

Food, warm words, and if they dared then soft touches were always the way to go to speak with Baekhyun.

But even if Baekhyun never seemed to be paying attention, he really did, so often actually.

Even if he was squeezing something so harshly in his fast that they had to soothe him to loosen up, he was always listening, in fact, Chanyeol was pretty sure that’s how Baekhyun got himself to focus, by looking like he wasn’t focused.

Baekhyun could do whatever the hell he wanted always though, even if that meant climbing in the pantry for chips and almost running out of the bathroom naked on multiple occasions - Baekhyun still struggled with clothes he didn’t think were comfortable, so they were mostly buying him pajamas.

It didn’t matter, because Baekhyun wouldn’t be going anywhere, he’d be staying with their family right where he belonged - squirming and mumbling his little heart out.


	2. Extra: Baekhyun’s Progress

Sometimes Chanyeol debated on rushing through the forest. 

He debated on sneaking out at night and seeing if he could follow Baekhyun’s old tracks. 

It was a thought he’d had before. It was a thought he’d  _ acted  _ on before.

Right after Baekhyun had been wrapped up, yet was still unconscious, Chanyeol had stalked out into the woods intending to follow his mate’s trail.

The pack stopped him and showed him the right thing was to be there when Baekhyun woke up; Chanyeol didn't regret listening to their suggestion because it was a moment that had been crucial in developing their relationship.

But he still thought about going out there and tracking Baekhyun’s steps, because blood left an everlasting scent and his nose would be able to pick up the sickening scent of his dying mate even a year later. 

He wanted to. Chanyeol wanted to so badly. 

To him, it didn’t matter that his pack abided by modern rules and laws  _ or  _ the fact that their kind had outgrown shifting about two hundred years ago. He would kill them.

Chanyeol had pieced together a lot of what happened to Baekhyun through books, through small words, but mostly he learned when Baekhyun had nightmares.

_ Omega. Chains. Ow. No mating. Bad alphas. Cleaning. Run away. Bleed. Bye…  _

Omega’s historically had always been oppressed. In the book Chanyeol was able to get his hands on it seemed that there were a lot of mixed views on how packs should handle omega’s. 

Some packs treated them like they were trophies. When they won over other packs they would gather them up and have them crowned. Omega’s had a time where they were seen as even more important and valuable than the head alpha to a pack.

They would be given the cleanest water, bathed only with other omega’s to retain their purity, and alpha’s would test all their food beforehand to make sure it wasn’t poisonous.

Until famine struck wolves.

Omega’s were creatures that required more than others did. They were fragile and physically required attention, thorough care, and a lot of more fatty foods than others. Packs began to feel a lot of frustration with their omega’s because of this on top of the lack of food available to them.

Alpha’s who were trying to provide for all of their pack now had the pressure of having to cater to specific omega’s needs and it was  _ too much. _

They killed them. Too many to count. Chanyeol had read that most of the time it was an accident. 

He read of one event where an omega had been smacked only once by a frustrated head alpha for complaining of lack of nutrients. Her neck had been snapped in that one moment of frustration the alpha had.

And he read another in which an alpha had smothered an omega on accident; the omega had been so sickly from not eating that he hadn’t even been able to scratch and wake the alpha from sleep to let him know what was occurring.

Just the thought that he could accidentally harm Baekhyun was unimaginable. Times had changed, but it didn’t change that omega’s were so  _ fragile. _

Imprisoning omega’s seemed like the only option to packs once the famine passed and they realized their omega population had dwindled. 

They would kidnap omega’s for breeding, but most of the omega’s had been willing back then, they understood the need to repopulate and Chanyeol hadn’t read of any cases in which an omega was purposefully treated badly, but Baekhyun had to be an example of that.

Chanyeol's family had always been city wolves, so he adopted the morals of humans. 

He tried hard to understand the perspective of feral wolves. He did. But he couldn’t. Nobody could reason why it was okay to hurt Baekhyun.

Jongin had come from a feral pack when he was young, and even then he said his pack never adopted a tactic to repopulate that included chaining an omega up. 

Chanyeol learned that omega’s earned their status at age fifteen. They would earn a certain scent, that of fertility, that told of their status. 

Some part of him was happy Baekhyun hadn’t always been abused. It explained how Baekhyun knew so much, how somewhat childish he was, and his actions that seemed more attention seeking than anything. In his head, he tended to correlate things that children would do with things that made him happy.

Because it was obvious once he learned his status things hadn’t been happy.

He knew nobody had sexually touched Baekhyun. He knew that Baekhyun was resilient and never listened to his pack and that's why he was chained up. But there were still holes that he needed filled.

There were still a lot of things Baekhyun wasn’t capable of telling him, so Chanyeol tried to fill them himself.

He took words Baekhyun used to try to explain and worked out the events as he  _ thought  _ they occured.

_ Chain. Clean. Run away. Bye. _

They’d unchained him for a bath, Baekhyun was perhaps adamant on not going - or something occured that frustrated the alpha’s who then beat the poor omega and dumped him for a bath bleeding out. Baekhyun was smart and took the chance to leave.

Chanyeol still didn’t know how far Baekhyun went. He didn’t know how long the omega had been traveling with open wounds. All he knew was Baekhyun would be dead if he spent five more minutes walking naked and bloody through the woods.

He would have been. And that was a fact even the omega himself knew. But it shouldn’t matter now when Baekhyun was right here with him. 

Maybe next year Chanyeol would again get a feeling he needed to go defend his mate. Maybe next month. Maybe tomorrow he would wake up to Baekhyun having a nightmare and decide to embrace his instincts that told him to  _ tear them apart _ for what they’ve done.

But right now he didn’t need to.

Right now Baekhyun was blinking at him with groggy eyes, having woken up to the alpha petting his features, his nose was all scrunched in confusion.

“Sh, go to bed. It’s late.” Chanyeol soothed, but he didn’t stop petting down his nose to his cheeks, because it was one of those nights  _ he  _ was the one having a breakdown.

Only one that came in the form of a murderous rage burning in his stomach rather than fear.

Baekhyun yawned. He opened his mouth big and began to knead his hand on Chanyeol’s shirt as he smacked his lips and stretched his toes.

“Oh no, honeybee is up now,” The alpha laughed, but it was what he’d been hoping for. 

He swooped down to press a kiss to Baekhyun’s forehead, and it was obvious his mate was seconds from passing out again, but he shifted to sit against the headboard and grab the tv remote anyway.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun was a sucker for movies, and Chanyeol knew he’d fall asleep two minutes in, but it didn’t stop him from nodding his head up and down with puffy eyes. 

They had to bring a television into their room seeing as Baekhyun was obsessed with electronics, and sometimes he got upset when people didn’t want to watch what he wanted on the downstairs television.

His stomping was rather cute, but Chanyeol remedied his angry face by putting a DVD player upstairs for him. 

“Come here my sleepy mate,” He smiled, scooping Baekhyun into his lap and fixing the blankets around him.

The omega huffed and puffed warm breaths into his neck with tired, weak limbs, lulling against his shoulder with a soft whine.

Chanyeol knew  _ Baekhyun talk _ and was quick to give him his wanted attention in the form of scratching his head and pressing kisses onto his forehead. 

Baekhyun purred an approving sound and began to rub his cheek onto his collarbone back and forth, it made Chanyeol beam at his sleepy attempt to scent him.

“I love you too, moonlight.” Chanyeol promised. 

“Chan  _ too.”  _ Baekhyun yawned once more with his eyes shutting.

“I know you love me too, Baekhyunnie.” 

***

_ “Baek!”  _

_ “Baekhyunnie!” _

_ “Come here, boy! Baek-“ _

Chanyeol promptly and firmly stormed up to Sehun to deliver a smack to the back of his head, growling under his breath, “Don't you call to him like he’s a dog.” 

_ “Ow!”  _ The youngest yelped and brought a hand up to his head, “Rude! I was just calling for him in general! Stupid protective alpha weirdo…” He grumbled and took off down the hallway.

But all of Sehun's yipping had already done its job and within a second there were two wide puppy eyes peeking around the corner complete with hands gripping the doorframe. 

Chanyeol's irritation with Sehun simmered down into a hum, because Baekhyun really did look no different to a puppy, he even did a slight wiggly movement of excitement when the alpha put a hand out for him.

“Hi, bumblebee. Do you want to choose what to eat on the picnic tomorrow?” 

The omega gave him his happiest smile, teeth in his bottom lip and nose scrunched as he bobbed his head up and down. 

“Get that bottom over here then, Baek.” Chanyeol snickered and pulled out a seat at the counter for him.

He’d been busy gathering and choosing some snacks to take with them, but Baekhyun could be picky when he wanted to be, so it was best if the omega chose his own things.

Baekhyun loved to go outside and have fun just staring at trees and bugs, but recently Chanyeol found out he really loved to go on walks.

They never went through the woods, Baekhyun had a reasonable dislike for the woods around their house, so on the days nobody took the truck to town to work, Chanyeol took him up to the mountains or sometimes on hiking trails.

Baekhyun loved it. He always rolled down the car window and let his long hair fly all around from the breeze and laughed with his entire chest.

Needless to say Chanyeol had been taking him out every single weekend because he loved it so much, and if the weather wasn’t right they still got a nice car ride in, because Baekhyun liked to stick to routines and was growing to expect some sort of car ride on the weekends.

One day Chanyeol vowed to take him to town, but Baekhyun didn’t quite act  _ human  _ enough for large crowds - he sniffled, sneezed, and made wolffish noises when curious, and that obviously would guarantee weird looks.

“I want  _ chop!”  _ Baekhyun cooed, sitting on his knees at the island, already having hoarded the ingredients Chanyeol pulled out of the fridge.

The omega squeaked to himself and glanced up at him with a cheese block in hand, “Chop  _ chop, please!”  _

“I can’t tell if you just want to eat cheese or if we’re packing lunch,” Chanyeol teased, reaching over to pinch the tip of his nose before accepting the cheese and reaching over for a cutting board, “Are you going to help?”

“Yeah…” Baekhyun pressed his lips together with the cutest look of determination Chanyeol had ever seen in his life, “Gonna eat  _ too!”  _ He cooed, pushing his hair out of his face with a flat palm.

The alpha snickered and took the hair tie off his own wrist to walk up behind the omega and grab his hair.

It was a habit to carry around hair ties or headbands, not only because Baekhyun’s hair was touching the collar of his shirts now, but because his own hair was getting so long.

Normally he’d go for a haircut the moment it started touching his ears, but that would most likely mean leaving Baekhyun alone at home, and that thought didn’t sit well with himself.

Baekhyun was okay if Chanyeol left him with the pack members now. He was more than familiar with them, but if he was all alone Chanyeol knew he’d be so afraid. 

His mate was self sufficient, but he wasn’t very good at accepting things that he considered out of the ordinary, so if he woke up alone Baekhyun would likely have a breakdown.

And their pup of an omega having a breakdown was  _ not  _ something anyone liked to see.

“Tsk, slowly, remember? Don't put your finger on top of the knife, you can still cut yourself on the dull part, angel face.” Chanyeol scolded softly, reaching around Baekhyun’s shoulders to reposition the omega’s finger so it wasn’t resting on top of the knife.

Recently, Baekhyun was interested in cooking - something Chanyeol chalked up to all of the cooking shows he kept wanting to watch at midnight - and he was getting so good at it, but cutting food was something he hadn’t quite grasped yet.

That was okay, because Baekhyun made his very first batch of cookies the other day and they had been  _ so  _ proud. 

He sat on the floor of the oven and watched them cook the entire ten minutes they were inside so they wouldn’t burn.

The pack didn’t even mind that he forgot to put chocolate chips inside of them, Chanyeol instead tossed the forgotten chocolate chips into the cabinet when Baekhyun wasn’t looking so the omega wouldn't notice his mistake. 

Baekhyun earned all of their pets and cooes, he was just so proud of himself, and everyone else was just proud he was branching out more.

“I have an idea,” Chanyeol hummed, placing a kiss to his temple and watching closely as Baekhyun slowly chunked off pieces of cheese.

They were all irregularly shaped and differing thicknesses, but it was too cute watching Baekhyun scrunch his nose up with focus.

“You want to cut up sausages and we can have crackers with cheese and meat? Hm?”

_ “Ooo!”  _ Baekhyun gasped and tilted his head back to look at him, “I want to eat!”

“You little piggy.” Chanyeol laughed fondly and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth before pulling away to approach the fridge, “If my mate wants it then I should get it for you, right? My baby is spoiled rotten.” 

Baekhyun made a noise of agreement, and when Chanyeol turned around he already had chipmunk cheeks stuffed with cheese pieces and pointed to a small pile of cheese.

It seemed the omega was done after only chopping up enough for him to snack on, but Chanyeol had not expected any differently and knew Baekhyun was waiting for his praise. 

“Look at you, baby! You won’t even need me if you keep learning things so fast!” 

Baekhyun squealed and his cheeks turned pinkish as he squirmed in his seat happily.

Yixing had been right. Omegas were just too cute for their own good. 

It was a shame other people weren’t granted with the sight of such cute creatures like they were, but Chanyeol was  _ not  _ going to share Baekhyun with more people than needed; half the time he found himself growing jealous of his own pack for cooing at Baekhyun so much.

“Alright, you keep your little fingers out of the way,” Chanyeol chided playfully, pushing the omega’s cheese chunks off to the corner of the cutting board, “Since you want to be chatty today, tell me a story while I cut up our snacks, Baekhyunnie.” 

The omega gasped aloud in an excited way, swaying back and forth with one hand holding the counter and the other reaching over for more cheese.

“Tomorrow we’re going outside!  _ Outside, Chanyeol!”  _ Baekhyun screamed shrilly, munching away. 

“We are going outside, baby. Where are we going? Do you remember?” 

“Ummm…” Baekhyun plopped a hand to his lips and the alpha had to snicker at his pointed finger tapping his lips, “Go… to meadows?” He wondered.

“Silly, we’re going to the  _ mountains!”  _ Chanyeol cooed, “Remember? I told you tomorrow morning we had to get dressed and wear warm clothes because it’s going to be  _ cold!  _ My Baekhyunnie could freeze his nose off.” 

The omega gave him an excited noise and leaned over the counter to lay his cheek down, snatching his last bite and chewing on it like a little mouse with both hands holding it.

Chanyeol couldn't help being overly fond of him.

When Baekhyun was found in the woods a year ago there had been times Chanyeol wondered if the omega would ever be well enough to even show signs of happiness to him.

But Baekhyun proved him wrong and was so full of life. He was so smart and understood that just because some people had wronged him didn’t mean they  _ all  _ would. 

Previously, Chanyeol hadn’t been sure if Baekhyun would ever understand that, but he did.

That didn’t mean he was open to meeting other people, he  _ wasn’t,  _ not at all, but it meant he trusted his own pack and that was enough.

Chanyeol didn’t need him to trust other people, he just needed Baekhyun to not lash out at them and try to scratch, which is exactly what occurred the first time another pack came to visit.

Junmyeon’s cousin had a pack by the ocean a few hours away, and when they once stopped by asking to stay for a few nights to visit things had been tense.

Baekhyun had given their youngest a few good swipes, but in his mate’s defense Chanyeol had been in the shower which already meant Baekhyun wasn’t in a good mood with him not around  _ and  _ Taemin had gotten too friendly too soon.

In  _ Taemin's  _ defense he understood the curiosity he had seeing an omega for the first time, but it didn’t stop Minseok from giving him a good scolding telling him Baekhyun wasn’t a fish in an aquarium that he could poke the glass on and see how it reacted. 

He was just an omega who had little words and a whole  _ lot  _ of fear. 

Baekhyun had such a gentle heart that he tried so hard to be kind after he got a soft scolding for cutting up Taemin's cheek. But after about four days of watching the pack of five silently he shared his bowl of strawberries with Taemin which Jongin so helpfully supplied meant Baekhyun was sorry.

Baekhyun felt a lot more than even Chanyeol felt he gave him credit for, because sometimes the omega just seemed to feel one emotion and one only because it was an emotion so overpowering it canceled everything out.

Fear was just  _ that  _ powerful when it shone in droopy, dark chocolate eyes. 

“Are you being cute for attention?” Chanyeol whispered fondly, leaning over the counter to press his nose into Baekhyun’s cheek affectionately, “I see you, pumpkin. I’m always paying attention to you.” 

Baekhyun began to sniffle at him and cooed a purr-like noise that Chanyeol took as  _ time to snuggle and nap,  _ because his mate never really grew out of his constant need for nap times.

Truthfully Baekhyun could hold him hostage  _ forever  _ for naps, because he always flopped himself down right on top of him and whimpered like crazy if Chanyeol tried to escape naps.

He didn’t want him to sleep, he just wanted Chanyeol to be his personal mattress.

The alpha didn’t mind being reduced to a measly piece of furniture when Baekhyun always woke up with the cutest yawn and silently asked for kisses. 

“I love you.” Chanyeol cooed, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “My mate, I  _ love love you!  _ You're such a good boy.” 

_ “Yah! I thought you said don't talk to him like he’s a dog!”  _ Sehun screamed from the living room.

Chanyeol grumbled and accepted Baekhyun into his arms when the omega gave him happy eyes with his arms up. “He likes it…” He argued under his breath. 

***

“It’s going to storm soon.” 

“I’ll give him a few more minutes,” Chanyeol answered, leaned back on his elbows in the cold grass watching Baekhyun fill his bird and squirrel feeders from the yard.

The omega was just obsessed with watching animals come eat the snacks he put out, although Chanyeol wouldn’t tell him that it was getting cold out so the birds would be leaving for the winter.

That was okay because the squirrels would probably come to eat double.

“Baekhyun!” Junmyeon called as he stepped away from Chanyeol to walk towards the house, “Five more minutes, pup!”

“Eight!” Chanyeol argued, but he was met with a warning look that made him roll his eyes, “Fine. Five, but I’m tossing him in the bath so make sure nobody uses up all the hot water.” 

Junmyeon snickered but agreed with a nod of his head.

It was entertaining just watching Baekhyun sometimes. He had these little jerky movements that made Chanyeol laugh because he really was a jumping bean, and he wasn’t the best about coordination so he spilled half the bag of seeds and nuts onto the porch and grass, but he never noticed the messes he made.

Nobody ever called out the messes he made either, even if the omega could make gigantic ones.

Baekhyun was too cute for his own good.

“Are you done?” 

Puppy-like eyes met his and changed into small crescents as Baekhyun held the seed bag in a fist and came trotting over with his toes bright red and covered in dirt and grass.

Socks were something Baekhyun liked, but they still had yet to get him to wear anything other than Chanyeol’s boots that were so big on him that the omega tripped left and right. 

Freezing toes just meant a needy omega anyway, so Chanyeol didn’t mind having to help him places.

“The birds ate all my stuff!” Baekhyun squeaked, flailing his hand in a strange excited movement, “They did, Chanyeol!” 

“I believe you, silly!” The alpha snickered and sat up to grab his mate’s waist and pull him down onto him.

Baekhyun screeched and began to wiggle, but Chanyeol pretended to bite at his cheek a handful of times and roll him into the grass because he enjoyed the omega’s laughter.

Baekhyun began to make this happy, squeaky whining noise from his throat. Kyungsoo called it  _ the pup’s happy noise  _ but Chanyeol preferred to just say it was one of the many noises Baekhyun made, because he made a lot of noises and many of them weren’t limited to certain feelings.

Baekhyun made this same noise when he was sleeping sometimes along with a handful of others. 

The omega just loved noises, and Chanyeol just loved to hear which ones he decided to do today.

A slender hand pawed at his cheek and Chanyeol took that as a sign to calm down so Baekhyun could snuggle up to him, which he did. 

Baekhyun smiled toothily and plopped a wet kiss to his cheek and proceeded to rub his nose into the alpha’s face. 

“Ah, you’re so sweet aren't you? My sweet mate.” Chanyeol cooed, pressing a kiss to his ear and sitting up, “Do you want a bath? Is it bath time?”

Baekhyun’s face perked up even more as he giggled and tossed himself at Chanyeol to be picked up, his cold nose finding a place in the crook of Chanyeol's neck.

They weren’t  _ exactly  _ sure why Baekhyun loved baths and showers so much, but Chanyeol had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t the getting clean part he liked but instead the  _ warm  _ part.

Once he thought about it a bit more he realized that Baekhyun had always been in the forest. The forest where streams were always cold and where they would have to put in extra effort if they wanted to clean up in warm water.

He knew that the likelihood anyone would have boiled bath water for his mate would have been slim. So water that was so warm it bordered on  _ hot  _ was Baekhyun’s favorite.

“Alright, alright.” Chanyeol crooned, adjusting Baekhyun’s legs around his hips as he pushed open the door to the house.

“Baekhyun! It’s cold out, tell your mate to watch over you better or you’ll get a cold again!”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes at Yixing yelling at them the second he stepped through the door, but knew he kept doing it because Baekhyun rumbled these little parroting responses that he  _ thought  _ were supposed to be scolding.

“Xing says no, Yeol…” Baekhyun pouted.

“Well Chanyeol says  _ yes.”  _ The alpha replied, pressing a kiss to his brow and stumbling up the stairs, “And who’s words matter more? Your mate or that grumpy beta?”

_ “I can hear you!”  _

Chanyeol smirked and placed Baekhyun to his feet outside of the bathroom to remove his heavy coat and shoes, hearing the omega shuffling in the doorway.

“... you hurt Xing’s heart…” 

“Get over here you sweet boy,” Chanyeol chuckled, sitting on the edge of the tub as it filled up behind him, “You're just the sweetest, aren't you?”

Baekhyun ducked his chin to his chest and fiddled with his sleeves but gave Chanyeol a happy eye smile at all the praise.

The alpha accepted him closer to unzip his coat and begin placing his things on the counter with a kiss to the omega’s forehead purely because he could see the tiredness of today’s games weighing on his already droopy eyes.

Plus, Baekhyun had been  _ so  _ talkative today. In general he was much better about speaking up when compared to how he’d first arrived, but this week  _ especially _ he’d been a chatterbug.

It wore him out.

“Did I hurt your heart when I was mean to Xing?” 

Baekhyun pressed his lips together and gave a small shake of his head as he was helped into the tub.

Chanyeol laughed and moved to take a seat beside the porcelain tub to rest his chin on the edge and dangle his fingers in the water to play with Baekhyun’s, “Then I don’t care, sometimes Xing deserves a little scolding. But it’s okay as long as I didn’t hurt my bumblebee’s heart.” 

“My heart doesn’t hurt, Chan.” The omega whispered with wide eyes, squeezing his fingertips before he leaned over his lap to feel the water that was falling from the faucet. 

“I’m glad, pumpkin.” The alpha cooed, pressing a kiss to his temple before standing up, “I’ll bring you clothes and let you have your bath in peace, sweetheart.” 

Baekhyun gave a soft grunt of an acknowledgement and Chanyeol was taking that as his  _ I’m done talking for today  _ and laughed as he shut the bathroom door behind him.

He’d have to come collect Baekhyun within an hour, because the pup had a habit of falling asleep in the bathtub.

Chanyeol assumed the warmth really got to him, so the pack learned that the best way to get Baekhyun in a snuggly, dreamy, and comfortable state was to get him warm. It was their go-to way to calm Baekhyun down.

Nobody ever complained about having to snuggle the omega, so it was always a win-win for whoever Baekhyun chose as his personal heater for the day. 

***

Baekhyun was squirmy tonight which was saying a lot considering Baekhyun on a  _ normal  _ night was squirmy.

But today he’d slept all day long and was up late tonight with the small grunt of a complaint of a belly ache.

That was odd because Baekhyun hadn’t eaten anything strange or gotten into anything he wasn’t supposed to yet he also felt warm to the touch.

The omega kept moving around like he just couldn’t get comfortable, and if he kept this up Chanyeol was afraid he’d have to wake up Yixing to take a peek at him and make sure everything was okay.

He didn’t want to have to do that now considering it was three in the morning, but he would if Baekhyun fussed or otherwise spoke up about it again.

He seemed semi-calmed down to be snuggled to Chanyeol’s chest though. As soon as the alpha had pulled out a warming blanket and wrapped him up Baekhyun seemed to calm down a bit more.

At first, Chanyeol wondered if it was nightmares getting to him, but Baekhyun was rather verbal about bad dreams and not as verbal about feeling sickly. He’d just have to coddle him until morning where Yixing could take a peek at him if he felt unwell still. 

“You want more snacks?” Chanyeol asked softly, rubbing the omega’s side through his thick blankets and pointing to the bag of crackers on the coffee table.

It wasn’t normal of them both to sneak downstairs this late - that was mostly a Baekhyun thing to do - but it was easier to keep Baekhyun in sight and gather juice and crackers for him this way.

Baekhyun certainly wasn’t opposed to watching television this late.

“Baby? Are you feeling okay?” He worried when there wasn’t a response for a moment, but after his second coo the omega whined a soft noise and flickered his eyes to him.

They were wide awake and alert meanwhile Chanyeol's were half asleep.

“Okay, okay. I’ll keep my fussing to myself,” Chanyeol promised, rolling his eyes playfully and fixing the pillow that was beneath Baekhyun’s head.

The omega looked at him for a second longer before worming a hand from the blanket to point at his feet in a silent request that Chanyeol knew all too well.

_ Maybe  _ they spoiled Baekhyun too much, but even then Chanyeol felt he wasn’t spoiling the omega enough.

The alpha unraveled the blanket to slip a hand under the covers and feel along for the jagged, painful looking scar that wrapped Baekhyun’s ankle. 

Baekhyun didn’t allow others to touch it. The one time Jongdae had tried to put cream on it while Chanyeol was upstairs changing ended up with Chanyeol nearly tumbling down the stairs naked because of his mate’s screech. 

Chanyeol felt special Baekhyun always liked when he took care of it, but he wouldn’t deny that it made him upset just to touch the healed wound.

“Do you want to go to bed again, pumpkin?” He asked when he felt Baekhyun rubbing the inside of his foot along his knee. 

Baekhyun rubbing his feet against soft things was a sign he was getting  _ too  _ comfy and could pass out any second despite his alert looking eyes. 

The omega looked at him and gave a tilted head expression before opening and closing his hand at him.

“Sheesh, you're too cute for your own good.” Chanyeol groaned as he scooped him up to deliver him back to bed.

***

Chanyeol must have fallen asleep when Baekhyun was watching movies because next thing he knew the bed was wiggling an awful lot which was a Baekhyun wake up call.

Only said wake up calls  _ don’t  _ normally have any noise to them. They’re usually the omega squirming around to wiggle his hips excitedly and snuggle against him.

But this one was all whimpers, whines, and what sounded like the omega was in  _ pain. _

Chanyeol was up and wide awake in seconds, jolting to sit up and pull the blankets away from Baekhyun.

“Baby? Moonlight? Hey… sh..” 

As soon as the blankets were yanked away he was met with a sweat soaked omega with tears streaming down his beet red face and the scent of  _ slick. _

It took him about five seconds to realize what was happening, and even then he didn’t move until Baekhyun was releasing this high pitched  _ yelp. _

“Oh  _ fuck.”  _ Chanyeol jumped out of bed, anxiously racking fingers through his hair and stepping a good meter away from the bed. “Fuck.  _ Fuck.  _ Baekhyun, just calm down, gorgeous...” 

An omega having a  _ heat  _ was the last thing on any of their minds. 

Chanyeol hadn’t even thought about such a thing when he was researching, he’d only wanted to know about the past, so he’d overlooked the passages about  _ heats. _

All he knew was Baekhyun must be older than they’d thought, because he knew only older omega’s got heats. 

Heats only occured if an omega hadn’t been mated yet, it was nature’s way of saying it was time for them to procreate.

Baekhyun wasn’t ready to have pups. He could barely care for himself.

And Chanyeol was  _ freaking out. _

“Shit..” The alpha backed off with his hands up as if to soothe Baekhyun, “Baby just breathe… breathe..”

_ “Chanyeol!”  _ Baekhyun began to cry and tossed himself onto his back with a loud heave, huffing and puffing, “Ow…” 

“I know it hurts…” Chanyeol winced and threw a hand over his nose because he felt his eyes begin to rapidly shift colors at the scent of Baekhyun’s slick. “I’m sorry, I have to go, I’m s-“

_ “Alpha!”  _ The omega wailed, clawing at his pajama top.

Chanyeol was so scared he was going to hurt himself acting like this and hushed him as he approached, shushing under his breath with a palm laid over his nose.

It wasn’t really helping, he could still smell how entirely  _ sweet  _ Baekhyun smelled, it was a scent comparable to pure honey.

“I’m sorry, I’m not leaving. I won’t leave, baby. I’m sorry for scaring you.” 

Slowly and cautiously Chanyeol removed his hand from his nose to grasp the edge of Baekhyun’s top before he hurt himself.

The omega panted and his cheeks were light red as he whined and wiggled out of his top, his sweat soaked body was pink and matched the flush on his face. “Chan.. Chan…” 

“I know.” Chanyeol held his breath for a second, but he truthfully wasn’t overwhelmed with the need to jump him. He was feeling the attraction, that was  _ clear  _ with the erection tenting in his pants, but mostly he was feeling concerned that Baekhyun was in pain.

“I know, moonlight,” He repeated, accepting Baekhyun into his arms and petting down the back of his head, “Just breathe, pumpkin.” 

Baekhyun didn’t seem like he needed time to calm down though, his motives were clear when he released a heavy moan and began to mouth at the side of Chanyeol’s neck, fingers latching anywhere on his top that he could curl them into. 

“I love you too.” Chanyeol laughed and nuzzled into his face, allowing the omega to press his parted lips against his cheek and scent him as he liked. 

Chanyeol knew Baekhyun already very much liked to scent him. He normally just did it in discreet ways like rubbing his cheek on the back of his neck when he attacked him for hugs. He didn’t normally outright press into him like this.

“Mating…  _ mating…” _

Chanyeol jerked back to cup Baekhyun’s face at his endless murmuring, holding his cheeks firmly and carefully. “Baby… are you feeling okay? You're being a bit strange.”

The omega smiled bright, as if nothing was amiss and he wasn’t sweating profusely, “Mating, Chanyeol.”

“M-Mating..” The alpha stumbled, licking his lips, “Baek, I don’t think-“

_ “Mating!”  _

Chanyeol's shoulders relaxed at his whine, because it  _ wasn’t  _ one that the omega had been instinctually making. It was simply a pouty sound he made when he didn’t get his way.

God, Chanyeol knew he was going to get in deep shit for this.

“If that’s what you want, pumpkin.” 

***

_ “Bad dog! Bad!” _

_ “I can’t believe you treated our pup like this!” _

_ “You're staying outside today! All night!” _

_ ”You couldn’t keep your hands to yourself, really? You tainted our pup like this?”  _

Chanyeol huffed and shoved Minseok's hand off his pajama top, folding his arms across his chest as he was forced out onto the porch in the cold. “He's an  _ adult!”  _

The eldest didn’t care and slammed the front door in front of his face to which Chanyeol internally screamed.

He  _ knew  _ this was going to happen, and just his luck it was as soon as he went downstairs to get his mate a snack for when he woke up.

Chanyeol didn’t regret anything. Of course not, it was his  _ mate  _ and Baekhyun had all the right to him as he did the omega, but he was annoyed beyond belief.

He plopped himself down on the porch and knew they’d let him in soon enough, but it was still irritating that he’d been popped upside the head, dragged out by his ear, and dumped outside just for mating Baekhyun.

But  _ did he really blame them?  _

Not really. Baekhyun was seen as everyone’s pup. Even  _ Sehun  _ saw the omega as a pup despite Baekhyun being at least five years older than Sehun’s own eighteen. 

A small part of him was glad they were so protective of his mate, but that feeling was overwhelmed by the wish that they would be overprotective of his mate only when it had to do with  _ strangers - not his own mate for fucksake!  _

Chanyeol rubbed his eyes and huffed, turning his head to try and listen inside the house, but he couldn’t hear anything over the wind he was faced with outside.

It took five minutes for the front door to swing open so Chanyeol readied a scowl on his face.

He didn’t need to use it though because the puff of a floral comforter popped out and he smiled lopsidedly when Baekhyun gave him tired, pouty eyes.

“Hi, moonlight. It’s cold out here, pumpkin..” He cooed, offering a hand.

Baekhyun sniffled a bit and fixed his blanket around himself tighter before slumping over to sit in his lap, laying his tired head down on his chest. “You were gone.” 

“I got in trouble. Those big meanies think our Baekhyun is not big enough to be mated,” Chanyeol mumbled, tapping a finger to the omega’s nose. “But little do they know my mate  _ wanted  _ to be mated, hm?” 

The omega’s eyes turned into little crescents as he turned to place his nose against Chanyeol's collarbone with an inhale and brought the corner of his blanket over the alpha’s shoulder. 

“I’m in trouble  _ too.”  _

“No, no.. it’s cold out here. Go inside, bumble bee.” 

His request fell on deaf ears, not that he expected any differently. When Baekhyun made us his mind there was no changing it.

At least as soon as the pack realized Baekhyun wouldn’t go inside without him they’d let the pair come right back in.

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: Gigi_B56 - Come see sneak peeks of stories!
> 
> https://curiouscat.qa/Gigi_B56 - Ask me questions!


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